- [Narrator] Coming up... - Just an automatic connection to instant fun.

- [Narrator] Chicago was once an amusement park paradise.

- This was a place to go and let loose and have a good time.

- It was a way to really see all these new things and to be able to say, "I was there".

- [Narrator] Some parks withstood the test of time.

- So you take the name of ravine and you make it into Ravinia.

- [Narrator] And other parks became the stuff of legend.

- Riverview was unique.

There was no other place like Riverview.

It was the world's largest amusement park.

- Riverview was a rite of passage.

It was a kid's playground.

- Everybody wanted to go to Riverview.

- [Narrator] But when real estate went boom, the parks went bust.

- To see this historic park just ripped apart was really, really sad for everybody in Chicago.

- [Jim] Those shared memories across generations, you can't get from a lot of other things.

- [Narrator] Amusement Parks, next on "Chicago Stories".

(bright music) (lively music) Welcome to the sensory playground, where you can savor sweet cotton candy or a pretzel as big as your head.

Catch a thrill on a coaster, play for a plush prize, or gaze at the glittering lights as day turns to night.

Each season, millions of visitors flock to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, about 45 miles northwest of Chicago.

For amusement park buffs, or even the casual patron, it's the best game in town.

But there was once a time, about a century ago, when the region boasted more than a dozen amusement parks of every shape and size.

- Chicago really played a critical role in the development of amusement parks, and it really had a history that does not reflect a lot of other cities.

I think what really set the stage was the World's Columbian Exposition In 1893.

- [Narrator] That summer, more than 20 million people came to Chicago for the World's Fair that showcased modern marvels in architecture and invention.

- The 1893 Columbian Exposition was a big deal.

People from around the world came to show what was the latest, the newest, and the best of that time.

- [Narrator] At the opening ceremony, all eyes were on President Grover Cleveland.

When he pressed an electric button, flags unfurled, generators activated, and 600 acres of fairgrounds came alive with power and light.

It was like nothing people had ever seen before.

- This wonderful technology of electricity.

- [Diane] They had brilliant searchlights, and the buildings were lit up at night.

- [Narrator] More than a dozen neoclassical white buildings stood proudly within the main fairgrounds, the vision of lead architect Daniel Burnham.

Visitors called it The White City.

- He wanted to have buildings that would be memorable in a big way.

- But what was really the most successful part of the fair was the Midway Plaisance.

- [Narrator] Standing apart from the civility and order of The White City was the Midway Plaisance, a mile-long amusement zone with rides, games, and other attractions.

- Rather than the formal dignity and decorum of the great fairgrounds, this was something that kind of was left to more entrepreneurs and a little bit of showbiz.

- [Narrator] Fairgoers could see different cultures on display in 18 foreign villages, but many of these exhibits were racist and promoted ethnic stereotypes, placing amusement over authenticity.

- There's a little bit of voyeurism in some of it.

There's a little bit of kind of salacious nature to it.

- [Narrator] White fairgoers stopped to gawk at unfamiliar faces and rituals, like an Egyptian belly dance, or a West African war dance.

On the other end of the Midway, a different spectacle tickled their fancy.

- They had Hagenbeck's Animal Circus, and you could see wild animals riding bicycles.

- [Narrator] From the obscene to the absurd, the Midway transported fairgoers to a fantasy land, which heightened their emotions and kept them wanting more.

- You could go to the Midway Plaisance and you could just let loose.

- [Narrator] At the center of the Midway sat a giant rotating wheel built to rival Paris's Eiffel Tower, and designed by a young engineer from Pittsburgh named George Ferris.

- [Jim] He created this truly spectacular piece of machinery.

- [Tim] And something that stood out as a really amazing achievement amidst all the corny hoopla of the Midway Plaisance.

- [Narrator] Its 66-ton axle was the largest piece of steel ever forged, and the wheel could hold more than 2,000 passengers at a time on each slow 20-minute ride.

- Chicago invented the skyscraper just a few years before that, so most people had never been that high, or on a moving contraption that large.

- Some people didn't even wanna go near it, were just scared to death of it.

But for other people, it was a thrill.

- It kind of created that sense of living life on the edge, which really fed into the whole thrill ride mythology of the amusement park industry.

- [Narrator] The 50 cent ticket generated sales of nearly 25 million in today's dollars.

- Actually, the entire Midway Plaisance was the most profitable part of the fair.

The fair paid off its debts and actually returned a million dollars to its shareholders.

The Midway kind of redefined what an amusement park could be.

- There's clearly a market for this.

It was a way to really see all these new things, and also to, I think, participate in this experience collectively, to be able to say, "I was there."

- [Narrator] The fair proved that amusements were big business, and soon, countless individuals wanted in on the action, like 19th century daredevil, Paul Boyton, who had already made a name for himself performing underwater stunts in a vulcanized rubber suit.

- Paul Boyton settled in Chicago and opened up an aqua circus, and according to legend, he even raised sea lions in Lake Michigan.

And soon, he caught wind of a brand new amusement attraction called The Water Chute.

He licensed that attraction to take advantage of the redefining nature of the Midway.

- [Narrator] On July 4th, 1894, he opened Paul Boyton's Water Chutes near the former World's fairgrounds at 63rd and Cottage Grove.

Each splashdown in a flat bottom boat cost just 25 cents.

- And that is considered the first modern amusement park.

Essentially, the first amusement park to focus on rides, its primary draw, and charge admission to ride those rides.

- [Narrator] Boyton's Shoot-The-Chutes Park was a hit.

He soon opened half-a-dozen other parks around the country.

By the early 20th century, Chicago swelled with new residents.

As industry boomed, a new urban working class had more time and money to spend on amusement, and an unlikely player stepped in to meet the demand.

- The trolley companies.

And to generate ridership on the evenings and weekends, many of them would build a resort at the end of the line.

- For just a nickel's ride, you could go across the city and experience all kinds of things.

- [Narrator] One of the so-called trolley parks was started by a man named AC Frost.

- He was a railroad entrepreneur, so he was creating an electric line that was gonna run from Chicago and Milwaukee.

- They had a real struggle building it.

So now they're building a railroad from Chicago and it's not going anywhere.

But there is this area that's kind of this nice midpoint on Chicago's North Shore, which is the beautiful lakefront and trees, and there are these deep ravines.

And so you take the name of ravine, and you make it into Ravinia, and you make it into a park that is meant to be an attraction.

- [Narrator] Frost bought 36 acres in Highland Park and named it Ravinia.

- He was a railway entrepreneur, so he wanted to most of all get people to take the train there, which did indeed happen.

But his goal was to create a high-class place of amusement.

- [Narrator] The serene, lush landscape of Ravinia would offer an escape from the noise, smells and congestion of the big city.

At Ravinia Park, visitors could dance or dine at the casino, glide down the toboggan in the wintertime, or ride the electric swing in the summer.

- So it did very well.

It also was very well known as a place where there would be scheduled entertainments of music and different kinds of performances.

- [Narrator] Over the next century, Ravinia would evolve into a world-class performance venue, drawing more than 600,000 guests and star-studded musical acts each summer.

- And you can still see the remains of the line.

Now the Metra North Line runs along the old trolley line.

- [Narrator] By the turn of the century, amusement parks were popping up all over Chicago.

- Very similar to what you saw going on nationwide.

It was really kind of a growth industry at that time.

Everybody was trying to figure out the right formula.

- [Narrator] Many parks were short-lived, like Luna Park in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood, and Sans-Souci on 60th and Cottage Grove, which later became the concert venue, Midway Gardens.

Through the early 1900s, Chicago boasted more amusement parks than any other American city.

But one park in particular overshadows them all.

And even today, a certain generation of Chicagoans can't help but smile at the mere mention of its name: Riverview Park.

- Riverview was unique.

There was no other place like Riverview.

- The Riverview was a rite of passage for anybody growing up in Chicago, basically, in the 20th century.

- Everybody wanted to go to Riverview.

- [Narrator] The Riverview story begins in 1879 at Belmont and Western Avenues, then a largely German neighborhood on the city's north side.

A group of Prussian war veterans purchased a plot of land to open a private club called Sharpshooters Park.

(gun firing) - So the men would go out there on Sunday and do their target practice, but then the families and the wives got kind of jealous that they didn't have anywhere to go.

- [Narrator] So the club added a small carousel and donkey rides to entertain members' families.

The Shooters Club gradually dissolved.

But soon after, a couple members purchased the land, including a prosperous baker named William Schmidt.

- Now meantime, William Schmidt's son, George, is over in Europe, attending high school.

- [Narrator] George had been wowed by the famous European parks, like Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens and the Prater in Austria.

- And he is all excited about this.

and he comes home and he is telling his father, "We need to do this.

It's a real hit in Europe.

It could be a hit here."

- [Narrator] Schmidt took his son's advice and began to transform Sharpshooters Park.

In 1904, they renamed it Riverview Park and added new attractions, like a figure-eight roller coaster called The White Flyer, a Shoot-The-Chutes ride, and others.

- (Tim) In some ways, it was like a big carnival.

It showed imagination is what it did.

- [Narrator] The crowds loved it, and over the next decade, the park continued to expand to 140 acres, drawing Chicagoans across the city and from many backgrounds.

It billed itself as the "world's largest amusement park."

- You look at the pictures of Riverview, it's just this action-packed Midway.

It was one ride and concession after the next.

- [Narrator] Riverview added rides like the silky smooth Velvet Coaster, a gigantic carousel with 70 hand-carved horses, and the Thousand Islands, where young lovers could steal a first kiss.

- It wasn't hard to find a date to go to Riverview Park.

They were all in.

- [Narrator] After seven years, the park was drawing 7 million visitors every season.

It debuted the latest and greatest in roller coaster technology by leading engineers like John Miller.

- He's the guy that invented the chain dog.

That's the anti-roll back device, so it gives the roller coasters that distinct "click, click, click".

But he also, in 1919, patented a way to lock trains to the track.

That was a huge development in the safety of roller coasters.

Riverview went on to build the Blue Streak and the Flash, coming out as an innovator in the industry.

So they were really heavily investing in these big, spectacular rides from almost the beginning.

- [Narrator] In the early 1920s, Riverview added a new type of coaster train, a flexible one that could safely negotiate tight turns.

It was called the Bobs, a gigantic wooden coaster with a nearly 80-foot drop and speeds topping 50 miles per hour.

When the Bobs opened at Riverview in 1924, it was billed as the fastest ride in the world.

- [Fairground Announcer] Like all coaster rides, it starts off nice and slow.

And then you know what?

(jaunty music) (roller coaster rumbling) (riders screaming) - [Narrator] The Bobs quickly became the most iconic attraction at Riverview, and it remained popular for decades to come.

- And that thing was just brutal, so fast.

- These wooden roller coasters, they made noise.

Metal wheels on steel track, making a curve that would screech.

- They're getting smashed back and forth from one side to another.

It was just wonderful.

- [Narrator] From its cheap thrills to a bustling social scene, Riverview let patrons escape the rules and rigor of daily life.

- This was a place to go and let loose and have a good time.

- [Narrator] In the 1920s, the beer flowed freely at Riverview Park.

- The Roaring Twenties were roaring for Riverview Park, the jazz age.

People are really hyped up and psyched for entertainment.

Chicago had a reputation, let's say, in the 1920s.

Talk about a wide open town!

Now, there is the federal prohibition against alcoholic beverages to be sold.

Well, that didn't really phase Chicago that much.

It was there.

You could find it.

- [Narrator] Even Chicago Mayor, Big Bill Thompson, caught the Riverview Fever.

But with blood-pumping rides, sideshows and late night mingling, amusement parks like Riverview soon became the target of moral outrage.

- They had beer gardens, they had fun houses where they would throw people together.

So a lot of people looked at this as a low-class form of entertainment.

- This could be actually destroying society by exposing you to evil influences.

- [Narrator] As parks like Riverview faced sharp criticism, one local investor saw a business opportunity.

His name was Joseph Beifield, a Hungarian immigrant and wealthy owner of Chicago's Sherman House Hotel.

- He was interested in creating a park that was fun, but that was also respectable.

- An educational form of entertainment proper for the masses.

- [Narrator] In 1904, Beifield purchased a 13-acre corn field at 63rd Street and South Parkway.

And as an ode to the 1893 Exposition, he named it White City Amusement Park.

- Beifield was a businessman.

He thought he was really at the forefront of a real change in the way people spent their free time, and he was there to make money from it.

- The people who promoted White City were looking for it to be a more dignified place to go, where you didn't have the kind of sensationalism, or somewhat provocative undignified things.

- [Narrator] White City would have no seedy sideshows, no scantily-clad performers, and no games of chance, just good, clean family, fun.

But true to its name, the park catered only to White patrons.

African Americans were not welcome.

- It was segregated in a de facto sense, so Black visitors were basically discouraged from going to White City Amusement Park.

- [Narrator] Fully enclosed on all four sides, White City had its own sewer system and toilet rooms, complete with attendants.

Cleanliness, safety and order would be held to the highest standards.

- In its first year, they sold 20 million tickets.

- [Narrator] Visitors flocked from miles away to get a closer look at the 300-foot Jewel Tower, lined with 20,000 incandescent bulbs.

- Electric lights, even despite the World Fair, were still fairly new.

- (Jim) It was really this spectacle that drew people just to see the park at night.

- [Narrator] White City also featured traditional amusements like roller coasters and a shoot-the-chutes, plus two huge ballrooms and daily reenactments of the Great Chicago Fire.

- The park especially had a cross-class appeal.

It was inexpensive.

They charged a mere 10 cents admission fee in the early years.

- [Narrator] But a few years after it opened, the so-called Fairyland began to falter.

- The park was unable to build up a kind of regular clientele.

The profit motive kicks in and they need to generate money.

And Beifield and the other owners knew that they had to take a kind of different approach.

- [Narrator] Abandoning his initial idea of clean family fun, Beifield reversed course and brought in new attractions like sideshows and racy rides, such as the Squeeze-Her, in which patrons often found themselves cuddled up close to park-goers of the opposite sex.

- And this was something that sort of playfully violated the prohibition on touching in middle-class culture.

- [Narrator] The park also added a popular burlesque show, much to the dismay of critics.

- They were investigated and eventually charged with indecency, because of one of the shows in particular, the Bare Bronze Beauties, in which the dancers were outfitted only in a coat of bronze paint and a girdle.

- [Narrator] A fire ravaged the park in 1927, destroying its iconic Jewel Tower.

- [Adam] Destroyed the Ferris Wheel and many of the buildings in the park, and that was really the beginning of the end.

- [Narrator] Patrons began to ditch White City for its North Side rival, Riverview Park.

- Riverview had more room.

They had that stability of ownership under the Schmidt family.

So I think when the Depression hit, it kind of was a situation.

It was either gonna be one or the other, and Riverview was in a much stronger place to continue to thrive through those tough times.

- [Narrator] White City officially closed its gates in 1933.

As the Great Depression took hold of the country, a local man named Arthur Fritz wanted to offer parents a cheap way to entertain their children during lean times.

- He was working in construction, and people stopped building houses and buildings.

So in order to make extra money, he bought six ponies and started offering pony rides at the corner of First and North Avenue.

And it became very popular, so he later expanded into the County Fair Pony Track, and he started offering ice cream, candy and cigars.

Then he decided to add a train.

Every amusement park needs a train.

- [Narrator] Fritz bought 60 acres in a suburb now known as Melrose Park, and Kiddieland was born.

- For the younger child, somewhere to take the kids to enjoy themselves for an afternoon.

He was constantly expanding.

Every year, he would be adding rides and just making things bigger and better.

- [Narrator] For decades to come, Kiddieland would cater to small children with its bite-sized rides and carefree fun.

Cheryl Brown remembers visiting the park in the 1960s.

- We lived on the South Side, and so we were coming down First Avenue, and then we're all excited riding in the car.

And then you see that Kiddieland sign, so we knew we were almost there.

Kiddieland used the organ music of Ken Griffin, and that was just such a happy sound.

As you're walking, you're just kind of bouncing to the music with enjoyment.

A very fun time.

You would hear the bells ringing from the water boats.

(bells ringing) The little girls wore their best Sunday dresses, their moms wore heels.

It was just a different time, a wonderful time, actually.

- [Narrator] Fifteen years after the park opened, there were nearly a dozen copycat Kiddielands in the Chicago area.

- At that time, the leading producer of kiddie rides published a book called "Kiddielands: A Business With A Future" that showed people how to open and operate their own Kiddieland.

Through most of the '50s and into the '60s, this was really an active and growing part of the amusement park industry.

Everywhere you went, there was a Kiddieland.

- [Narrator] But Fritz's Kiddieland was the first.

- [Jim] And he spent several years trying to trademark the name, without success.

- [Narrator] Despite the competition, Kiddieland survived through the 20th century, and then some.

Meanwhile, Riverview Park grew into the top destination for thrills, games and family fun.

- Riverview really came to dominate the city.

I mean, they were the largest amusement park in the second largest city in the country, so they really grew to a dominant presence, not only in Chicago, but in the amusement park industry.

- [Narrator] In 1932, a massive fire destroyed the Bug House, but Riverview pulled together funds to replace it with a new fun house called Aladdin's Castle.

- It was creative and it was fun, and it was like a, you know, the ultimate kind of Halloween house, even in the summer.

- Sometimes it would be completely dark, and you were kind of feeling your way around.

There was a tunnel that was a rotating barrel, and you would have to walk through it.

- And if you tried to crawl through it, there would be a employee at the end that would say, "Get on your feet.

Walk through it, walk through it."

And of course, you'd try to get on your feet and you'd fall over.

- And there was someone holding the button that had an air hose, and when he saw a pretty woman walk by with a dress on, he would press the button, the air hose would shoot, and it would look like the Marilyn Monroe picture with the skirt going up.

- And we're, you know, at 10, 11 years old, we've never seen a woman's skirt fly up.

And it was incredibly intriguing.

- [Narrator] A roller coaster called the Flying Turns became another crowd favorite.

- It was a very unique ride.

It went up just like a regular roller coaster, but then it went into these huge trackless bins as they would fly around from side to side, eventually ending up back on the track.

- The Flying Turns was actually my favorite, I think.

You would lie kind of like this, and you would lie with someone, a friend, or God, if only, a girlfriend in between your legs.

And it would just, it just, you know, swooped around and swooped around, swooped around.

And it was nothing scary about it, but it was fun.

So the whole thing about Riverview is it was fun.

- [Narrator] The plunging Pair-O-Chutes were added in 1936.

- [Fairground Announcer] If you wanna be a parachute jumper and don't wanna risk your neck, here's how: Chicago's prudent daredevil.

- That scared me to death.

The little seat that you were sitting on was like a piece of plywood, and you just wonder, how's this thing gonna stay intact?

- [Fairground Announcer] And here we go, 212 feet to the top.

Incidentally, the parachutes conform to Air Force specifications, if that's any comfort to us.

- I looked at it, my cousin wanted to go on 'em, and I was like, "Uh-uh, not me."

- [Fairground Announcer] Up and up.

And what's it feel like when the shoots are released?

Well, it's like being in an elevator and having the cable snap.

Watch.

- And it ended with a jolt at the bottom.

It's like your spine was just gonna go right through you.

- The Freak House was always something that drew us too, because it was just so bizarre.

- [Narrator] At the so-called Freak Show, disabilities were exploited for entertainment and shock value.

- [Tim] People with unusual physical characteristics, let's say, that were put on as spectacle.

- [Fairground Announcer] Hey, it's never out, it's never over.

One act follows right after the other.

- And there would be barkers who would be, you know, it'll be, you know, "Come and see the amazing..." - [Fairground Announcer] Pouches in the side of her mouth, where she- - I had never seen a lady with a beard down to, like, almost her navel.

And it's the guy with the bulging eyes, like pop eyes.

- And his eye would come halfway out of its socket.

It scared the daylights out of us.

- [Narrator] On the west end of the park, thrill seekers could ride an amusement park staple, the six-story high shoot-the-chutes.

- [Fairground Announcer] The water chute, the only one of its kind in the country, was built in 1908.

Now, two elevators carry the boats to a height of 64 feet.

Once at the top, the boats hurtle down the watered chute.

And I mean they hurtle.

(riders screaming) (water splashing) - [Narrator] By the 1950s, park owner Bill Schmidt, grandson of the park's founder, became concerned about the safety of Riverview's rides.

- One of the Aerostat planes broke off, went into the river, and two people were drowned.

So that was a big story.

They had one incident happen where one train ran into another one because the braking system failed.

- [Narrator] Throughout the park's existence, 17 people were killed and more than a hundred injured due to rides malfunctioning or riders acting carelessly, standing up in the middle of a plunge.

A visionary leader, Schmidt vowed to make Riverview one of the safest amusement parks in the world.

- He was an engineer, really paid a lot of attention to safety and operations.

And other parks would come to him, you know, like, "I have a problem with this roller coaster.

What do you recommend?"

- [Narrator] Schmidt upgraded Riverview's coasters, adding air brakes and shock absorbing seats.

- They were the safest park in the country, and they were told that by virtually every insurance company.

And they had the lowest insurance rates of anybody.

- [Narrator] Riverview's exceptional environment was one shaped over three generations of Schmidt family ownership.

- The Schmidt family was very well-known and respected.

- [Narrator] In the mid-1950s, world renowned animator Walt Disney sought Bill Schmidt's advice on plans for a revolutionary park in California called Disneyland.

Schmidt weighed in on Disney's plans and offered valuable advice.

- In the case of the theme park, Disneyland did not create the theme park.

Coming into the opening of Disneyland in 1955, you started seeing people work around the idea of Old West theme parks, Santa Claus theme parks, and storybook theme parks.

And you saw that here in Chicago.

(airplane engines whirring) - [Narrator] In the years following World War II, the baby boom pushed growing families to the suburbs and fueled the opening of new parks, like Santa's Village.

It was the vision of a California man named Glenn Holland.

- Glenn Holland actually was a man that never really had a Christmas as a child, as his parents died when he was about 13, 14 years old.

- [Narrator] As an adult, Holland wanted to bring Christmas cheer to children around the country.

And by the mid-1950s, he had successfully built the world's first theme park franchise.

♪ Come on out to Santa's City ♪ ♪ Oh, what a happy day ♪ - [Narrator] On Memorial Day weekend of 1959, he opened Santa's Village in East Dundee, a suburb approximately 45 miles northwest of Chicago.

- So you were actually transported into this surrealistic world of Santa Claus.

All the details and the buildings were perfect.

Santa was wearing custom made hair goods out here, and Mrs. Claus was here.

The helpers were dressed like elves and pixies.

- [Narrator] For one low admission price, children could get up close and personal with the big guy himself, sample sweets from the gingerbread house bakery, and even ride a sleigh pulled by real reindeer.

- They had about 700,000 people a year coming out at that time.

The only thing about the Illinois park, you didn't count on the Chicago weather.

There were days, probably in 1960 at Christmastime, that this place was open and nobody was here.

It was too cold.

- [Narrator] They added a 40,000 square foot polar dome that hosted top skating acts during the park's off season.

The new schedule drew visitors year round, enabling the park to add new rides, like the Snowball and the Magic Train.

Meanwhile, older parks like Riverview and Kiddieland continued to see big crowds and healthy expansion.

- The amount of babies being born was just exploding, which was very good for an amusement park that was geared towards small children.

- [Narrator] But for big kids, no park was better than Riverview.

During its heyday in the 1950s and '60s, baby boomers flooded the park, looking for cheap thrills and memories that would last a lifetime.

Chicago Tribune reporter Rick Kogan has fond memories of visiting Riverview Park as a child.

- Oh, Riverview, a place like something from a colorful dream.

It was a melding of heaven and hell, seedy and serene, glitzy and garish.

But for all its blemishes, and indeed because of many of them, it maintains a special place in the minds and hearts of Chicagoans.

My father was a lifelong newspaper man and author of books about Chicago history, and he knew a lot of people.

How he knew the guy in charge of tickets at Riverview is, remains one of my great life's mysteries.

My father said, "You have to go in, show them this piece of paper."

And I went up the stairs.

And some gruff guy, probably with a cigar, said, "What do you want, kid?"

And I said, "Herman Kogan sent me here and said to say hi to you."

"Herman's a great guy.

Here."

And he gave me a stack of tickets, hundreds of tickets.

And I came out and I was a hero to my three other friends who were there.

And that was common practice every time we went to Riverview, which made it a marvelously inexpensive trip for us.

But it was my first experience with Chicago clout.

♪ If you wanna go to where the action is ♪ ♪ Go to Riverview ♪ - [Fairground Announcer] Riverview A-Go-Go!

- Friends, dates, good times, complete kind of liberation from any kind of cares or restraints.

It was all about having fun, and nobody was to tell you not to do any of it.

- [Narrator] At Riverview, visitors of all ages and backgrounds could laugh their troubles away.

- Which was actually the moniker for Riverview, to put your mind at ease, to get away from your problems and just go have a good time.

- [Narrator] Keith McDonald grew up in the West Woodlawn neighborhood and gladly made the hour-plus bus ride to Riverview Park.

- A lot of neighborhoods that I grew up in, there were people who were dealing with stuff.

And that stuff is what occupied your five senses all day every day, year after year.

And to be able to escape to Riverview for a couple of hours was just, you know, medicinal.

- [Narrator] Though Riverview seemed like a world away, it was not spared from the inequities and tension brewing in the real world.

♪ Freedom ♪ - Shout it louder ♪ Freedom ♪ - Louder!

♪ Freedom ♪ - [Narrator] As the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s picked up steam, one decades-old attraction at Riverview began to draw heat.

It was called many offensive names over the years, including the African Dip.

- That was actually a tame name for it.

It has different names that were very offensive, and I'm not even gonna repeat 'em.

But needless to say, the African Dip eventually became just The Dip.

- This was a series of cages that were mounted over big, high water tanks, and then you could throw baseballs and hit this round target on the side, and if you hit it, it would make the person go into the water.

But the men in the cage didn't sit there quietly.

The insults that they would throw out were pretty incredible.

"Hey, what's your sister's telephone number?

I'm tired of humping your mother!"

They would call out to you and insult you and your girlfriend.

- Disparaging the manhood of a lot of young muscle bound guys with cigarettes, you know, folded up in their sleeves of their T-shirts.

- "Oh, I'll show him."

Keeps buying those baseballs, you know, and throws 'em.

The Black men in the cage were really good at what they did, and people who weren't even throwing the baseballs would stand around just to hear what they would say.

- To my mind, and I'm no businessman, but it was a very effective sales pitch.

- [Narrator] Some patrons called The Dip racist and offensive, and they filed complaints with Park management.

By the start of the 1964 season, Riverview decided to take action.

- The African Dip was shut down.

(water splashing) (spectators whooping) - [Narrator] In the 1960s, a teenage crowd began to congregate on Riverview's Midway.

- People would show up, not necessarily looking to ride or have fun, but just to hang out and look for trouble.

- The first time I ever smelled the very distinctive odor of marijuana was at Riverview in the mid-'60s.

There was not a lot of adult supervision.

It was a kid's playground.

- [Narrator] For some families, the freewheeling scene signaled danger, and they steered clear of Riverview Park.

- Well, I think it's the perceived danger we're talking about here.

We were going there like once a week, and I never saw any fights break out.

It was always, it seemed very, very safe to be there.

- [Narrator] Riverview's attendance began to drop.

- [Tim] People were starting to say that it was seedy or going downhill.

- But it was never as dangerous as people made it out to be.

(cart rattling) (riders screaming) - [Narrator] Meanwhile, by the mid-1960s, Chicago land values were soaring.

- Riverview, being located at Western and Belmont in 120 acres, that was very valuable land at the time.

- [Narrator] It was a far cry from the early 1900s, when Riverview first opened.

- You were basically in the boonies.

It was basically suburban Chicago out, anything north of Fullerton Avenue at the time.

Now you're right smack dab in the middle of the city and property values are skyrocketing.

- [Narrator] The land the park occupied was worth much more than the revenue it generated.

- And that's when they started looking for people to purchase the property.

But they kept it quiet.

Nobody knew about it.

The employees didn't know about it, the patrons didn't know about it.

This was all kind of behind the scenes.

- [Narrator] After the 1967 summer season, a real estate investor bought Riverview Park for $6 million.

Some say third generation owner Bill Schmidt had reservations about selling, but eventually, eager partners won out.

- I think it broke his heart.

I think that he tried everything he could within his own power to try to save the park, but he had under 15% stock, so he was being overwhelmed by all these people that had gotten shares of the property, and there really wasn't a whole heck of a lot he could do.

I just opened up the newspaper and it just, was totally shocked.

"Riverview Closes."

- [Narrator] Throughout its 64-year history, a staggering 200 million people visited Riverview Park.

For many who loved it, the news came like a punch in the gut, sudden and painful.

- Riverview was gone.

(mock sobbing) It was gone, and it was just, (exhaling) quiet.

- The reason the park shut down is always gonna be a great, to my mind, a great mystery.

- It's like somebody took a light switch and just turned it off.

And that was the end.

(tower crashing) - [Narrator] It was the end of an era on the city's north side.

But a south side park was about to catch a second wind.

By the 1960s, some White families were fleeing the city's south side as Black residents moved in, and an amusement park called Kiddytown struggled to hang on.

- And a lot of amusement parks, as that happened, really struggled to keep their customer base.

- [Narrator] The park drew the attention of tennis pro Allan Carvell, owner of Uptown's Rainbo Ice Rink and the building next door, which housed a music venue called the Kinetic Playground.

- I remember my mother saying, "No more, Allan," (laughing) but it never worked.

- When Kiddytown went up for sale, Allan Carvell saw an opportunity.

- It was dying, and it was soon to be out of business.

He couldn't stand that idea, and so he got hooked up with the policeman named Ira Harris, who was part of it before it went out of business.

So they all, you know, got together and decided to get it open again.

- [Narrator] The Carvells, Harris and other investors bought the park and changed the name to Funtown.

- [Jim] Funtown really distinguished themselves by reaching out to the growing Black population in the neighborhood and kind of establishing themselves as the neighborhood entertainment destination.

- [Narrator] For more than a decade, Funtown operated as the south side destination for summer fun.

- It became an amusement park that was very popular.

- They created this jingle that became well-known on airwaves throughout Chicago.

♪ Hey, Mama, hey, Daddy, let's go to Funtown ♪ ♪ Funtown ♪ ♪ Funtown for the kids and you ♪ ♪ At 95th and Stony Island Avenue ♪ ♪ Funtown ♪ - There was no other amusement park on the south side in our neighborhood, so we embraced it.

We took ownership as a collective.

- [Narrator] Keith McDonald worked the food stands at Funtown as a teenager.

- Those who worked for Funtown had to wear red and white smocks.

Some of the elders were like, "You work at Funtown?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's good, I'm glad.

I'm happy for you, 'cause you're a young man with a job."

You know, it was respectable.

- [Narrator] While other parks played organ music, Funtown played funk.

♪ Hit it ♪ (upbeat funky music) ♪ Oh!

Gonna have a party ♪ - It was all families just having a blast, about a thousand kids going, "I want this," "I wanna do this," "I wanna do that," (chuckling) you know.

It was very entertaining watching, just watching.

But it was wonderful, it really was.

- [Narrator] By 1980, the Carvells had sold Funtown to focus on other projects.

That same year, the nearby US Steel Mill closed and laid off thousands of workers.

As poverty in the neighborhood rose, Funtown's attendance suffered.

- Running an amusement park is not easy.

You have essentially a hundred, 150 days to make your money and make enough to tide you over in the winter.

It is not an easy business to be in.

- [Narrator] In 1982, Funtown shut its doors for good.

- And that really ended an almost century-long continuous run of amusement parks within the city limits of Chicago.

- [Narrator] The 1970s and '80s saw the closures of several parks in the Chicago suburbs, like Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom in Oakbrook, Old Chicago, the world's first indoor amusement park in Bolingbrook, and Adventureland in Addison.

- They all closed after Great America opened.

♪ Put a smile on your face ♪ ♪ We're Marriott's Great America ♪ ♪ Great America ♪ - [Narrator] The Marriott Corporation bought 600 acres of rural land in Gurnee, Illinois, and in 1976, opened a dazzling new amusement park called Great America.

- [Commercial Announcer] Forty-two rides, nine shows, hundreds of games, 30 places to eat and enjoy.

- I actually covered the opening of Great America.

How was it for me?

Very shiny, very new.

- That was a huge draw.

"Where do you wanna go?

Kiddieland or Great America?"

You know, it was Great America for the older kids.

- Wow, yesterday there was nothing to do.

- Yeah.

What are you doing tomorrow?

- [Commercial Announcer] Great America, we charm you back again and again.

- So Kiddieland saw the writing on the wall that they had to expand and do more and more advertising to keep their customers.

♪ It's for mom and dad, grandma, grandpa ♪ ♪ Everybody cares ♪ ♪ It's the fun that brings you back to Kiddieland.

♪ - [Narrator] Older parks like Kiddieland and Santa's Village leaned into their multi-generational appeal and also added a bevy of new rides to boost attendance.

Santa's Village began advertising an exciting new coaster called the Typhoon.

Problem was, it hadn't arrived yet.

- So people were getting upset, and that was the first nail in the casket right there.

You can't put something in a commercial.

But there was always promises, "It's coming, it's coming, it's coming."

Well, it never came till the next year.

Plus, you got an owner that's aging and wants to retire.

It was time to either close it or switch gears and let somebody else try.

- [Narrator] The park was struggling, fell behind in paying rent and taxes, and was soon forced to close.

After 46 years in operation, Santa's Village announced its final season.

- The park opened on May 30th, 1959.

It officially ceased to exist on May 30th, 2006, the same day.

- [Narrator] Over the next few years, the wild prairie surrounding the park began to grow into and over its rides and buildings.

- The vegetation is taking this place back.

There was nothing here except those empty buildings.

It was all gone.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, Kiddieland appeared to be thriving.

- 'Cause all the other competition closed up, so Kiddieland was really the only game in town for little kids.

- They had done such a great job building it into a nice, mid-size family-oriented amusement park.

- [Narrator] But rumors began to spread.

Kiddieland's future was uncertain.

- As time went on, one group in the family came to own the real estate, another group came to own the business.

And the group who owned the real estate, they want that big lump sum payment, and kind of went out over the business operators.

- And then it's like the rug was pulled out, the land was pulled out, and said, "Sorry, you have to move."

- It is the oldest amusement park in the Chicagoland area, but tonight, Kiddieland is no more.

- [Reporter] Everything is up for grabs, from the bumper cars to the carousels.

And you can sum up the owner's feelings in a single word.

- Sad.

Sad.

(auctioneer calling for bids in background) - I was at the auction and I saw the owners, Ron and Kathy, and they were very, very sad, very upset.

I went to the park as a little girl.

I brought my kids to the park in the 1980s, and I really wanted to bring my grandchildren eventually.

And to see this historic park that has been there since 1929 just ripped apart, was really, really sad, not just for me, but for everybody in Chicago.

(mellow music) - [Narrator] A few years after the closing of Santa's Village, some former employees were determined to revive it.

After a couple of weeks pruning the overgrown landscaping and giving the buildings a fresh coat of paint, the re-imagined park was born.

It paired a petting zoo with typical amusement park fare, including some rides they purchased at the Kiddieland auction.

They would call it Santa's Village Azoosment Park.

- When it was the petting zoo and a handful of kiddie rides, they didn't expect it to go further than that, but they keep growing.

- [Narrator] Like a Christmas miracle, Santa's Village was coming back to life.

In recent years, the park added a water feature called Santa Springs.

- It's been really wonderful to see this classic piece of Americana brought back from an almost sure demise.

- There's more rides on the property now than there ever was, in a smaller footprint, and that's amazing.

And there's gonna be more development coming up, so.

It's the little park that can.

- When I see my grandchildren ride some of the Kiddieland rides at Santa's Village, I think, "I remember riding in that Midge-O-Racer car."

And now my 5-year-old grandson is riding in that car.

- It passed the biggest test by coming back from the ashes.

It's in a very good shape right now, and I hope it continues for decades to come.

- [Narrator] Phil Wenz has been the resident Santa at Santa's Village for more than three decades.

- So I've never really had another job besides Santa Claus.

And when the park was closed, there was no laughter, no noise, no screaming, no happiness.

There was just silence out here.

Now it's nice to hear all those noises again.

- [Narrator] Today, there are no amusement parks within Chicago city limits, and very few remain in the suburbs.

Great America in Gurnee, now a Six Flags Park, draws millions of visitors per year with more than 75 rides and attractions, including a dozen-plus roller coasters and a massive neighboring water park, Hurricane Harbor.

But the distance and expense make a trip to mega parks like Great America impossible for many Chicagoans.

- As time has gone on, you know, costs have gone up, these parks have gotten bigger, the public demand for thrill rides has increased.

Every once in a while, you gotta knock their socks off with a $30 million roller coaster, so that's increased the overall admission price.

(mellow music) - [Narrator] Chicagoans can now see a 196-foot Ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

Though only three-quarters the size of the original at the World's Fair, it's a reminder of an era when Chicago ruled in amusement park fun.

- Amusement parks do evoke a very powerful emotion in people.

And it's a happy memory of your childhood.

It's a happy memory that you probably shared with people who aren't around anymore, and it's a happy memory that you can share with your own children.

- Any of us who ever went to Riverview are getting older.

And so it holds a very special place in hearts and minds, I think.

I really do believe that, hearts and minds, of perhaps your first kiss, perhaps the first time you were scared, perhaps the first time you were allowed to go somewhere on your own with friends and not your parents.

I think, in a sense, it it, it, it's a touchstone of freedom.

- [Narrator] Riverview's sprawling plot on the city's north side is now home to a strip mall and the DePaul College Prep campus.

- Tens of thousands will remember Riverview, the city's glorious amusement park.

So much of the city and the suburbs have been razed, paved over, obliterated.

Still, some gone things remain so memorable that they stay with us as if snuggled up with our DNA.

- [Narrator] And if they close their eyes on a summer night and the air is just right, they can still see the glittering lights of the carousel, hear the piercing screams on the Bobs, and taste sticky pink cotton candy while racing to the next ride.

While the parks of their youth are no longer around, the memories are forever.

(mellow music) (mellow music continuing) (dramatic music)