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Old Chicago - Bolingbrook, Illinois

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Desolate Angel
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« Reply #75 on: November 22, 2010, 12:55:59 am »

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« Reply #76 on: November 22, 2010, 12:56:18 am »

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« Reply #77 on: November 22, 2010, 12:56:40 am »

In the end all that was left of Old Chicago was loaded up into trucks and taken off to the scrap heap.
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« Reply #78 on: November 22, 2010, 12:59:16 am »

Old Chicago
Bolingbrook, Illinois
Old Chicago Today




Back when Old Chicago was built there really wasn't much around it.  Most of Bolingbrook sat on the other side of the Interstate and other than the strip mall and movie theater across the street and a few warehouses there was nothing around Old Chicago but farmland.  These pictures are from the late 1990's and even between now and then the area has seen a drastic change.  I drove through the area earlier this year (2008) and couldn't recognize anything.

 For example where my family got stuck in the middle of nowhere in our Suburban back in the legendary blizzard of '79 a mile West of Old Chicago now has an exit to the Interstate and there are businesses, gas stations and shopping malls as far as the eye can see.  It reminds me of the Pretenders song "My City Was Gone":

I went back to Ohio
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride
The farms of Ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And muzak filled the air
From Seneca to Cuyahoga Falls
Said, a,o, oh way to go Ohio
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« Reply #79 on: November 22, 2010, 12:59:49 am »



Here's a satellite image of Old Chicago's site from Google Earth as it sits today as a car dealership.  The "T" shaped building is where Old Chicago was and the dealership uses Old Chicago's parking lot on the north, east and south sides of their building with the parking lot to the west added on at a later date.

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot, or more accurately a car dealership.

The Chicago Loop now sits in Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire as the Canobie Cannonball.  The Old Chicago Log Race is not the log flume at the Texas State Fair.

Old Chicago Amusement Park Today
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« Reply #80 on: November 22, 2010, 01:01:04 am »



All that's left of Old Chicago is just a street sign and our memories.

 

http://negative-g.com/Old-Chicago/Old-Chicago-Today.htm
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« Reply #81 on: November 22, 2010, 01:03:26 am »

http://www.youtube.com/index?ytsession=ez5RNh4VjeK3OTYJqVvdmvZfIsrCL2z268W_LHN5icpSCpqlz8npOxOxL-PDH4RFKbMTmA727Xq9Az5JF5znLq-x8yVlYBZGE-5UxlBjIfxsZK7oaR4u4yVzd5W0WacrcsO42fecRYXcaQ7wXtHwtzMvKFg3ass4EHvskSL0x3CQPIS6yKhgKh4eMfnKzBBwiCmBKF7qvyOFLST6WeTAtyzVDtqcCJs3zDTdn_ktPa1Uj7K0bVdZq2gAQ5_0k_a7sV9lpUlI5xcAy0i9-R3XFrT8wqiQqi1yE7dqOM6pVROztW8d9pe8099lDGvis6aMJQ22nZNtQhu3os4DGulBQx_lG9Jlkpj8nflFcHShd3e0BYFCK-tLDTvOHj8Hq3v2pm-JQu5LeoU

Here's video of Old Chicago from Brian DePalma's movie "The Fury".  The movie was a thriller that came out in 1978 about a teenager with telekinetic powers that the CIA wants to use for assassinations.  To kind of explain this clip in the beginning of the movie the boy's father is killed; or so he thinks by Arab terrorists.  He is then taken by the CIA and  and is being manipulated to their bidding.  His minder, who he is in love with takes him to Old Chicago.  While there he sees her with a couple of other men and leaves in a jealous rage.  He then heads for the amusement park where his powers do some damage including sending a Paratrooper car of Arab men flying into the Biergarten Restaurant.

I remember a bit of the filming as we paid a visit to the park during it.  Also I remember that we sat several times in the Biergarten looking out on the Old Chicago Fairgrounds at that table several times for dinner before and after the filming of "The Fury".

http://negative-g.com/Old-Chicago/Old-Chicago-Videos.htm
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« Reply #82 on: November 22, 2010, 01:05:27 am »

Old Chicago
Bolingbrook, Illinois
Memories

Here are some of the memories of Old Chicago that have been sent to me.  To add yours please email me and I'll add them as well.

 

I just stumbled upon your site and it has brought back many memories.

I remember that Marshall Brodien had a magic shop at Old Chicago. He's the same Marshall Brodien who went on to be Whizzo the Wizard on the Bozo T.V. show. He was also the magician who appeared in many commercials selling his T.V. Magic Cards. He sold the shop to Billy Bishop, another Chicago area performer and magician.

I had just worked with Jimmy Troy, the performer who fell to his death in Old Chicago, a few weeks earlier at a shopping mall outside of Milwaukee. Clyde "Buddy" Farnum, former manager, is still around. I think he lives in New York state somewhere.

I once auditioned for a television commercial that was shot at Old Chicago. The camera crew began setting up for the commercial after the park was closed. The park was transformed into an old county fair grounds with sawdust on the floor and all the amusement rides as a background. The commercial was for a soft drink called "Quirst." "Quence your thirst with Quirst" was the slogan. I appeared as a clown among a group of children. With special effects, a can of "Quirst" was beamed from a spaceship right into my outstretched hand as the children looked on in anticipation for their treat of the soft drink.

We shot the commercial over two week-ends from very late until the early hours of the morning. I eagerly awaited the commercial to air but unfortunately the makes of Squirt, filed an injunction over the similarities of the two names-Quirst and Squirt. The judge ruled in favor the Squirt and the commercial never was aired. I got paid for the two nights work but was very disappointed that the commercial never aired and I never got paid the "resididuals." Those payments that come to a performer every time the commercial gets shown on T.V. I do however still have one can of "Quirst" as a reminder of those two special nights spent at Old Chicago.  - Donald W.

Being from nearby Lemont, I remember going there several times as a teenager. I never went into the amusement park area, because the plain cement floor and lack of sky made it seem too sterile and unnatural. The constant loud, discordant noise from this area was also discouraging.

I did, however, enjoy walking through the mall with my friends. I was always intrigued by the detail of the storefronts and how well designed everything seemed, especially those nearer the front entry. I also recall the entryway, with its "hanging gardens" (large brass-type fixtures that contained draped ivies, hung at varying heights and intervals). At the time, I thought they were among the most beautiful things I had ever seen, and to this day, I have had hanging ivies in every place I've lived. I was also impressed by the "cobblestone streets", and wondered at the time how long it took to build them, with what must have been hundreds of thousands of individual stones. Now, they are all probably in a landfill somewhere.

The only store that I seem to recall is a Wendy's restaurant in one of the mall "corners". I remember that it had a unique second floor eating area that you reached from a spiral staircase. The eating area looked out over the mall area, and you could sit in it and watch people walking through the mall. I would go to Old Chicago just to eat there. I believe it was the first Wendy's in the Chicago suburbs.

I remember driving there with a friend one evening, in summer of 1978, only to find just a handful of cars in the enormous parking lot. We turned around and went home. That was the last time I saw Old Chicago "alive".

Once it was boarded up, I expected -- as did most people -- that it was just a matter of time before it would reopen. When we saw the walls coming down, it was quite a shock. Now the area nearby is festooned with cement warehouses as big or bigger than Old Chicago was. The site itself is a series of car auctions and auto sales centers.

Long before we met, my husband worked on the subdividing of the Old Chicago property after its demolition, and he says that by then, all that was left was a big hole in the ground.  - Reja

I grew up in Downers Grove, and now I'm married with 2 kids living in Woodridge . . . so we're still in the area . . . and my heart still skips a beat every time I see the damn, huge "auto" place there now, (where they hold the car auctions). It makes me sad - but I still remember that building standing there . . . with all the magic inside!!

What I haven't seen on the internet, nor your site on Old Chicago, is something called (if I remember correctly), "The Four Seasons" ride. It was a ride, kinda tucked in the back corner, next to the smaller roller coaster . . . it was on a track that took you through winter, spring, summer and fall. (I remember loving that ride for some reason!) Anyone ever write to you about that?

ALSO, I remember seeing SEVERAL concerts there . .. I remember seeing Ricky Nelson there . . . and Willie Aames . . . and I KNOW I saw others too . . . I'm a few years older than you from what I gather in your articles, I was 9 when it opened and 14 when it closed . . . . and I got my first kiss there! I think there was also a part near the back area (on the complete opposite wall of the entrance), where they showed old movies - like black and white stuff, Charlie Chaplain, Three Stooges, etc. . .. but that is such a DISTANT memory . . . it's so vague!!

ANYWAY - SORRY, I don't have one picture of those old days . . . SO wish I had . . . but it was GREAT seeing all the ones you displayed, and the pictures of the old stores, as well!! (I remember a poster store in there too - as "Saturday Night Fever" was huge back then - and we were always looking at the Bee Gees posters, Shawn Cassidy posters, etc.!! LOL!!) I remember a "Fortune Teller" machine too - which was really cool to us kids, sitting out in one of the dark corners of the mall area!! I DID see a picture of her on another site one time . . . so it's out there!!

Well, I didn't mean for this to be a novel!! Sorry!! You just touched upon one of my FAVORITE childhood memories . . . and I got on a roll!!  - Pam

I just found your website and it brought back some great memories.  I lived in the south suburbs of Chicago and went to Old Chicago probably 5 or 6 times before it was torn down.  I was amazed that the park didn't make it, as it did ease the cold winters of Chicago.  Seeing the site reminded me that there was some film footage shot there in the movie "The Fury" from the late 70's.  I don't know if you knew about it.   - Dave W.

You can see the Old Chicago section of The Fury on the Old Chicago Videos page.

Loved your Old Chicago website!

I've been reminiscing lately.  I remember seeing Willie Aames and Paradise at Old Chicago, back in 1979.  How I loved him.  I think Alicia Bridges was performing there the same night too, before Willie Aames - I never heard of her but I liked "I Love The Night Life" that she sang the night that I saw her.  My favorite ride was The Four Seasons where it would get cold when you rode past winter.  I remember the old cobblestone streets throughout the mall and the Old Fashioned Wendy's (when they had the old ads on the tables).

Thanks for posting all those pictures on your website!  I loved browsing through your site.  What great memories!  - Debbi

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« Reply #83 on: November 22, 2010, 01:06:39 am »

From 1974 - 1980 I lived in Downers Grove and Old Chicago was a couple miles down I-55 in Bolingbrook. In addition to working in the games department in the summer of 1979, I went to Old Chicago many times.

My most fond memories of Old Chicago are of the Windy City Disco Movement. It was the only place around where teenagers could go to dance to the latest disco music. It had a great dance floor. I took many dates there. It was located in the southwestern corner of the amusement park.

There was a bookstore that always carried the latest issue of Billboard magazine - not easy to find, especially in the suburbs. Being a diehard music chart follower, this required frequent trips down there before I could afford the pricey subscription.

And of course there were the rides. The Chicago Loop, there was a Tilt-a-Whirl and a Scrambler though I'm sure they had different names, and the Enterprise.

I now live in Minneapolis/St Paul and only seven miles away from me is the Mall of America. Every time I'm there (frequently with 13 and 12 year old daughters), I remember Old Chicago. Because in many ways, Old Chicago was the predecessor to the Mall of America. It was the same idea, but without anchor stores, it couldn't survive. But my Old Chicago memories will always survive. And they are all good!   - John J.

I enjoyed reading your page on Old Chicago. One question! The ride that you call The Enterprise, the one that went around in a circle as it rose until you were just about upside down, wasn't that ride called "The Windy City"? I had very specific memories about that name and of course the Chicago Loop, as they were my first rides of their kind.   -Laura Smith

I believe it was called the Windy City Screamer.  I called it the Enterprise because that is the name that the manufacturer of that type of ride called that model.  Thanks for reminding me and it has been changed.



I went to Old Chicago many times. I remember that a friend of mine won tickets from the Loop for New Year's Eve. we had so much fun there. I was little for my age and they didn't want to let me on the Chicago Loop, but since my dad was with me they let me. I don't remember that much else about it though, but I do remember that right next to the ticket booth there was a novelty shop that sold all kinds of crazy stuff, & we bought fake dog poop there for our teacher's birthday.  - Annette M.

I have fond memories of Old Chicago. That was were I got my first job in 1977 at the one and only game that was upstairs “Fascination”. It was tic tac toe with balls that you would roll up to the top of a machine and they would fall in a hole and light up a screen on the front of the machine it was twenty-five cents per game. I worked with a guy there named “Justo”, don’t know whatever happened to him. You would win tickets and you could turn them in for prizes (like the now Haunted Trails/Chucky Cheese).

I moved from that game to the amusement park office downstairs. I worked with Greg Rice and a Mr. Brandolino. I met some of the stars that came to put on concerts – the big ragu (Laverne and Shirley), Peaches and Herb and a few others.

I could hear the “Loop” the roller coaster going and when it jumped the track and got stuck on the top just before it would go down the first hill, I would get several calls from workers that said “Loops jumped”. I would have to call maintenance and the manager on duty to go and check it out.

My brother Richard worked there as well as a game manager. I also met my first husband there William Carlson, he ran the rides. I had a lot of fun at that place and was very sad when it closed down so soon after I started working there. The memories will never be forgotten.  - Renee L.

I remember going to Old Chicago a few times and loved it. We went there on a Saturday when Karl Wallenda walked the tightrope near the dome during a weekend engagement. I was disappointed on its closure but realize it was very much a product of its time period, yet I feel it will eventually be regarded as ahead of its time as well.  - Myron J.
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« Reply #84 on: November 22, 2010, 01:07:17 am »

I went in August of 1976 to the park so I'm sure some things changed. But here is what I remember:

After entering the park (which you entered by going down spiral concrete ramps that led from the mall level to the park level) I will describe the rides I remember in a Clockwise fashion. Obviously there were probably more "flat" and kiddee rides than I remember. But any of the big things I remember because my brother and I went on them.

If you looked into the park directly from the ticket booths the first ride in front of you was the Log Ride. It was a rather short ride and the water channels were made of cement instead of fiberglass which I remember as being weird. The ride was kinda boring; it meandered around and ended in a small hill (probably only about 25 ft). To the left of the log ride was the Chicago Loop which was the Corkscrew coaster. This was a standard Arrow model but since it was enclosed it made a really "neat" noise when it travelled on it's circuit.

Working around the outer circle (which the park was laid out in) the next ride was the Enterprise. This ride was placed directly against the wall; when the ride was elevated to its peak it was parallel w/ the exterior glass wall that separated the amusement park from the mall. I remember riding this since it was my first Enterprise and it actually scared me back then. The next ride on the circle (and it was directly behind the Chicago Loop) was a Chance Yo-Yo. Walking past this there was a large food stand and I believe some kind of show stadium. The next thing on the circle was "The Cat" rollercoaster. I remember it being flush against the wall and I remember it having the longest line we encountered all day. The only other ride I remember was a dark ride that was called "The Four Seasons". It was extremely lame as I remember. But what was neat was that the entrance to the ride was flush w/ the amusement park wall. In other words the track traveled under what must have been the walkway for the Mall. The day we went to the park it wasn't crowded at all and we did most everything in about 3 hours.

I remember thinking the layout seemed odd since a couple of ride entrances would be close together and then there would be patches of dead area filled w/ food shops and game booths. Something I read about in articles about the park and something I experienced at that time was the weird noises that the rides generated and that the indoor park contained. In the last few years of the park major bucks were spent (apparently) on sound dampers. When we visited it wasn't that all the rides were noisy. Rather the just echoed in a really strange way. The sound from the Chicago Loop was so distinguishable that you could tell exactly where the train was on the coaster even if you didn't look just by the "pitch" of the sound. I don't know any other way to explain this but I would be interested to hear if anyone else remembers this.   - Christopher

I remember Old Chicago.

 Only visited a few times. In retrospect, I remember the park did have some cool names of rides. In addition to the Chicago Loop, I thought the Crash of '29 was a neat name for the bumper cars. I also remember the Four Seasons dark ride which I liked a lot. Seem to remember a YoYo as well. I remember getting sick on the Rotor, one of the very few times I got sick at a park. Took a rest and then went on the Tilt a Whirl and got sick again. Pretty stupid.

I remember they had these funny box like things hanging from the sky. Supposedly to dampen noise. The sky or lack there of was a negative. Wish they had skylights like Camp Snoopy at Mall of America. For an indoor park, that one does a good job of making you feel like you are outdoors, almost. Interestingly, the site still attracted me years later.

My two passions in life are parks and cars. I've been back several times for classic car auctions (the site is now a car auction), and in my brief stint as a car dealer, have been there to buy and sell. Still wish it was a park though, and better yet, wish some of the other outdoor parks in Chicagoland had survived.   - Jim W

I visited Old Chicago in my youth. I believe I went two times. I think the first time was still while the park was in full swing, and the second was when it was in decline.

I don't remember much for sure--my impressions were very vague--but I seem to recall the park not being very crowded on my second visit. I don't remember the rides very well. I know they had a flat ride that I liked a lot. I think it was called the Bobs (I had no idea that there might be a coaster association with this name), and consisted of tubs that swung out freely as the ride went around on a track with some hills. Geauga Lake has one of these called the Yukon Yahoos, and Cedar Point also has one, possibly called Matterhorn. I loved this ride at the time.

I don't really remember the coasters clearly at all. I have the impression the Corkscrew got very close to the roof, but I don't really remember the ride experience at all. Oddly, the one thing I remember clearly is when a guy at the dunking booth was trying to get me to play by calling me "four eyes." This was located on one wall of the park area, along with some other games. This is when I remember the park not being very crowded, because there weren't too many other people for him to make fun of as we walked by. It's really the only visual memory I have of the place now, unfortunately.  - Dave S.
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« Reply #85 on: November 22, 2010, 01:09:34 am »

Old Chicago
Bolingbrook, Illinois
My Old Chicago

My fascination with Old Chicago began in a field back in the spring of 1975.  The field was Clow International Airport in Bolingbrook which back then was just a grass strip that Cessna's and Piper Cubs flew in and out of.  I guess it was an "international" airport because someone once flew to Canada from there.  The airport was hosting a fly in where people could walk around and check out the planes.  I was three at the time and my Dad was always into aircraft so we ended up out there walking around the planes.

At the end of the field was something that changed my life.

It was the lead car to the Chicago Loop rollercoaster.  In the bright spring sun it glowed as if it were made of solid gold.  It sat on a couple of pieces of wood with a little sign next to it promoting the soon to open Old Chicago Amusement Park and Shopping Center.

The car pulled me in as if it were a magnet.  It was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen and just couldn't get enough of it.  I crawled into the seat and pulled the over the shoulder harness down and grabbed a hold of them for the ride of my life.

My Dad tried to get me to come and look at some of the planes with him but who wants to see boring old planes when you had this futuristic looking thrill machine for you to put your hands all over.  He was fighting a loosing battle and he knew it.  So he went on to look at the planes and I spent the rest of the afternoon crawling all over and under the car.

My life changed that day.  Getting to see and touch a coaster in addition to growing up hearing family members, especially my Mother tell tales of the long gone Riverview Park and it's legendary terror machine The Bobs turned me into a lifelong roller coaster enthusiast.  When I got home that day my scribbles with crayons changed.  No longer were I drawing houses or our dog but they turned into loops drops and turns of the coasters that filled my mind.
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« Reply #86 on: November 22, 2010, 01:10:21 am »



By the time Old Chicago opened later that year my family life was not the greatest.  My parents were going through a nasty bitter divorce and the man who later would become my step-father moved in.

We'd drive up Route 53 every once in a while headed wherever and I always remember seeing the massive hulk that was Old Chicago.  The closer opening came I remember the electricity about it was everywhere.  The excitement was so much that even I as a three year old vividly remember it all even when my memories of the rest of my life then seem pretty hazy all these years later.

One night all of a sudden there were these huge columns of light filling the sky that we could see from afar. To a three year old it was a sign from heaven.  We all hopped in the car and headed to Bolingbrook to take a look at the grand spectacle.  The traffic was horrendous and it took forever to make the trip that was only a few miles.

Eventually we got to Old Chicago but there was no way we'd ever get in as the crowds were just too much.  Still I remember that huge building all lit up with the dome towering so high in the sky it looked like a close second to the Sears Tower in my mind.  The place was just so big it was hard to comprehend.

We worked our way through the traffic and eventually worked our way home with me all the way staring out of the back window at the columns of light that filled the sky above Old Chicago.
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« Reply #87 on: November 22, 2010, 01:11:36 am »



Eventually we made it through the throng of traffic that once in a while on the weekends even backed up on Route 53 past Dover Avenue in Romeoville where I lived.  Like I said elsewhere in this site Old Chicago was pure magic when I visited.  It was grand and magnificent on a daunting scale.

When you walked past those lions and through the doors it was like going back in time.  I remember the feel of the cobblestone, the glow of the streetlights the smell from some cookie shop, the roar of the Chicago Loop off in the distance and the feeling of electricity that filled the place.  It was almost more excitement than I could handle and that was even before we wound our way to the entrance of the Fairgrounds.
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« Reply #88 on: November 22, 2010, 01:12:10 am »



The mall section had a very closed in feeling.  It really was like you were walking down a small street that was lined with shops so you got used to being closed in.  With that in mind when you reached the Fairgrounds and it's massive indoor space it was more than a wow.  It left you breathless.

It was hard walking down those ramps.  Not because they were steep or slippery because I just wanted to run.  Old Chicago was to me at that time the worlds biggest playground and I wanted to go play.

We visited Old Chicago often.  We didn't always visit the park but whenever I could I walked up to it's entrance and gazed out upon this wonderland.

The Chicago Cat was my first rollercoaster and it seemed to me like the cars could fall off the track as we zipped around it's turns.  The Chicago Loop was more than a little bit impressive to watch.  I used to sit right under it's corkscrews and watch it go overhead.  It seemed like it went so high it almost touched the roof and what I remember of the time that I rode it was looking up as we went through the corkscrew and seeing Old Chicago's floor above me.

The Four Seasons ride was one of my favorites.  I have real vague memories of what it's actual story line was.  It took you thorough the four seasons of the year and my memories are of the winter section where it was suddenly cold and there was an ice covered pond and snow everywhere.

There were a few shows at Old Chicago but the Circus was the most memorable one for me.  The circus was nice but what I remember most about it was that the Chicago Loop wrapped around the back of the bleachers.  I always sat up at the back and always waited for the next time the coaster to speed by every couple of minutes.   

When Old Chicago opened the Fun Factory play area we visited the park quite a bit more as you could pay to just enter that area and it was quite a bit less expensive than a trip into the Fairgrounds as a whole.  You could run, crawl and climb all over the whole thing as it was a massive playground.  I loved the big punching bags that you could run through and bash into each other with.

Once in a while my Mom would take my sister and me to Old Chicago on a week day when the park was empty.  She'd pay for the two of us to get in and then take a seat near the entrance and just let us go play.  We'd go hit the Fun Factory and the Four Seasons but often we'd go and marathon on the Old Chicago Log Race.
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« Reply #89 on: November 22, 2010, 01:13:33 am »



The Log Race was a really fun log flume.  It started out with a long twisting tunnel that we'd always shriek or make noises in.  Eventually you'd emerge from the darkness and head up it's lift hill before plunging into the little lake at it's bottom.  You really didn't get that wet on it but you didn't need to as Old Chicago was always a nice warm temperature even if it was below zero outside.  We were instructed to look up at Mom every once in a while and eventually she'd wave us to come to her therefore ending our riding the Log Race over and over.

My last visit to Old Chicago was with a couple of friends.  It was in early 1980 and I was eight years old.  Jack Alvarado, Scott Peterson and I rode our bikes to Scott's Grandparents house which sat on I-55's frontage road a short distance from Old Chicago.  After we visited them for a while we headed for Old Chicago.  We rode up to the massive building with hardly a car in the parking lot and leaned our bikes onto one of the lions pedestals and went into Old Chicago.

There were very few stores left in the mall as we walked around to take a look at the park.  It was a ghost town and outside of the very few employees  we were the only people there.  Old Chicago was dying.  We made our way to the entrance of the Fairgrounds and didn't even see a soul there.  We thought about just walking into the park but really didn't want to get into trouble so we just looked down on the still park.

I remember standing there looking from ride to thinking about all the fun times that I had there.  I remembered the Log Race marathons with my sister, climbing around in the Fun Factory, watching the floor become my sky while going through the Chicago Loop's corkscrews and I remembered most importantly that Old Chicago was a place that even though my family life was hellish and it seemed that no one loved each other, we became a family at Old Chicago.

We stood there for a little while longer then turned our backs and walked away.

 We eventually moved out of the area but every once in a while I'd find myself going through Bolingbrook, whether going to the water slide that once sat across I-55 from it's hulking remains or to visit friends who still lived in Romeoville.  Each time I saw that building it brought back my memories.

The last I saw of Old Chicago was early in 1986.  I was onboard a buss headed to Springfield  for the Lisle Jr. High 8th grade trip.  We left well before sunrise and by the time we reached I-55 the sun was just peaking over the horizon.  I remember sitting in the back of the buss and looking back toward Old Chicago.  The dome no longer towered over the plains but instead was a huge pile of debris silhouetted by the rising sun of a new day.

Goodbye old friend, goodbye Old Chicago.   

 
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