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Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Old Chicago Amusement Park
I'm not sure of the year, but at some point in the mid-1970s, my family visited a friend of my dad's from his Army days and he took us all to "Old Chicago," the indoor amusement park in Bolingbrook, IL. It might well have been 1975, the year the short-lived park opened. (According to its Wikipedia entry, the park closed in 1980 and was demolished in 1986.) It was the first real amusement park I had ever seen and I was amazed by the "Chicago Loop" rollercoaster and its two upside-down loops. According to this article on the Negative-G website, it was the only the second modern looping rollercoaster. (Photo posted on Flickr by Ryan Smith. He has a full set of photos of Old Chicago.)
In the YouTube clip above, you can see Joey and Dee Dee of the Ramones wandering around the park before the band's 1979 performance at the park. The Chicago Tribune also has a slideshow of photos of Old Chicago. More background from the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission is here and there's a Facebook page for the park.
Labels: 1970s, 1979, amusement parks, Bolingbrook, Old Chicago, The Ramones
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