Adventureland (Illinois)

Adventureland
Location Addison, Illinois, U.S.
Coordinates 41°57′21.5″N 88°3′6″W / 41.955972°N 88.05167°W / 41.955972; -88.05167Coordinates: 41°57′21.5″N 88°3′6″W / 41.955972°N 88.05167°W / 41.955972; -88.05167
Opened 1961
Closed 1977
Rides
Roller coasters 3

Adventureland was an amusement park located in Addison, Illinois which operated from 1961 to 1977. The land where the park is located was originally a restaurant and tavern known as Paul's Picnic Grove and from 1958 to 1961 was a family attraction site known as Storybook Park.

From 1967 to 1976 it was the largest amusement park in Illinois.[1] Attractions at the park included Dizzy Hofbrauhaus, Scrambler, Crash 'n Splash Torpedo Tubs, Western Round-Up, Bumper Cars, and Italian Bobs which reached 35 ft. high and Super Italian Bobs which reached 60 ft.[2] The park offered parking for 3000 cars.

History

The former Storybook Park was sold to Durell Everding, whose family also owned Santa's Village (now Santa's Village AZoosment Park) in 1961 and renamed Adventureland.[3] Some attractions from Storybook Park were kept, but the new owner began to focus on adding more rides to the park to attract older visitors as well. Owner Durell Everding died in 1970 and the park was run by his family until it was later purchased by Medinah Investors. The park closed in 1977 as a result from competition with newer parks; the parks rides and attractions were sold off upon the parks closing. [4]

Since the park's closing, Medinah Road on the site's east side was re-routed through part of the property. The Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago building now occupies most of the site, although aerial views show evidence of the park's trails, while urban explorers have reported finding remains of park buildings and ride foundations on the site.

References

  1. Addison Advantage Summer 03. Retrieved June 9, 2007
  2. Rollercoaster Database Retrieved June 9, 2007
  3. "What Ever Happened To...". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. "Adventureland". Bloomingdale Public Library. Retrieved 30 November 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, December 13, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.