Illinois amusement park closed after 80 years

47 mins ago

MELROSE PARK, Ill. – The rides at Kiddieland near Chicago have been shut down forever.
The longtime Chicago-area family amusement park permanently closed at the end of September.
Kiddieland Amusement Park in suburban Melrose Park opened in 1929. But park owners announced it would close in May, due to rivaling factions in the family that owns the park. One group that owns the land wants to use it for other purposes.
Tom Norini, who is related by marriage to the park's founder, German immigrant Art Fritz, has said family members made a group decision to not start over.
In its last few weeks, Kiddieland fans came from all over Illinois and out of the state to visit the park for a final time. The park had over 30 rides.
"It sounds crazy to cry over a park, but it's not just a park; it has always been there, and it's something you can count on," Vickie Perkins, who grew up nearby and brought her daughter to visit on the park's last day, told Preservation magazine in an article that appeared on the PreservationNation.org Web site.
The rides, including a 1950s German carousel and roller coaster, are now for sale.