Idora Park (Youngstown)

One of the park's many attractions was a wooden roller coaster with a length of 3,000 feet (910 m) and the height of 85 feet high, called the Wild Cat, which opened in 1930. The state-of-the-art, three-minute ride was hailed by roller coaster connoisseurs across the country. The Wild Cat was designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck, who held 100 patents for roller coaster innovations. In 1984, the Wild Cat was still ranked among the top ten roller coasters in the world.

Another famous attraction to the park was the Jack Rabbit, a wooden roller coaster built in 1910 by TM Harden. It was 70 feet (21 m) tall and 2,200 feet (670 m) long, had a ride time of two minutes and thirty seconds, and was lengthened and recountered in the 1930s. In an attempt to bring people back to the park for the 1984 season, park owners reversed the trains of the Jack Rabbit and renamed it the Back Wabbit.

The Kiddieland area was originally a giant concrete swimming pool. When the park was built, it included the pool and a large bath house. A large hole was drilled into the pool to connect to an underground saltwater spring, creating the only saltwater pool in the country.[2] To address the park's space concerns, the pool was replaced with a children's rides section during the 1950s. The bath house became a shelter and storage area.

The Kiddieland area included smaller and slower rides for children, some of which were touted as miniature versions of Idora Park's rides, such as the open-air children's version of the Idora Special train. A small wooden roller coaster was considered a children's version of one of the featured large-scale rollercoasters. Other attractions included an open air, roofed picnic table area (where attendees could serve food they brought from outside the park) and an old-fashioned automobile pathway which had a self-guiding track but allowed for a minor amount of steering so that even children could feel they were actually driving these low-powered gasoline vehicles. Children's midway games were also present.

The Idora Park Ballroom opened June 30, 1910. The open-air ballroom was based on one in Coney Island, New York. It was billed as the largest dance floor between New York City and Chicago.[3] The hardwood-floored ballroom eventually became enclosed to allow for year-round use.

Idora Park's house band played in the ballroom until the advent of radio in the 1930s. Radio increased the level of listener sophistication, and Idora Park soon began to hire to big-name bands. Subsequent decades brought glorious entertainment to the ballroom: dances, concerts, New Year's parties, and Presidential campaign visits from John F. Kennedy. High-profile musical acts that played the ballroom included: the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Eagles, Ray Charles, Maynard Ferguson, Blue Öyster Cult and The Monkees.

A devastating fire on April 26, 1984 destroyed the Wild Cat roller coaster, the Lost River ride, eleven concession stands, and the park office. Employees scrambled to save park records, but only some of the most current files were pulled to safety, while older files and historical records were lost. Employees tried to extinguish the growing flames with hand extinguishers, but soon realized that the fire was out of control.

Twelve fire companies responded to the fire, which spread quickly as winds carried it across concession stands and on to the midway. Many off-duty firefighters also responded to the call to help contain flames that spread along the Wild Cat's wooden tracks and threatened the merry-go-round, which was scorched but ultimately saved from destruction.[5] Firefighters found themselves at a disadvantage with a lack of in-park hydrants, poor water pressure, and aged wooden rides and buildings. They finally tamed the blaze by running lines to hydrants outside the park.

Final damage was estimated in millions of dollars. Intense heat melted paint in various areas of the gazebo. The south horseshoe of the Wild Cat was destroyed, and the repair cost was prohibitive.

The park operated through the summer of 1984, but with the premier ride gone, a decision was made to close permanently. Idora Park welcomed its last visitors on September 16, 1984.

On October 20–21, 1984, an auction was conducted by Norton Auctioneers of Coldwater, Michigan to dispose of the rides and equipment. The remaining coasters (Wild Cat, Jack Rabbit, Baby Wild Cat), and many other buildings (Ballroom, Kiddieland complex, French Fry stand) were abandoned.

In an interview with the Youngstown Vindicator on October 16, 1984, former Idora Park owner Max Rindin was asked what would happen to the Park after it closed. “In time,” he said. “It’ll all be torched.” Gradually, his prophecy came true. Another fire at the abandoned park on May 3, 1986, destroyed the Heidelberg Gardens, Kooky Castle (haunted house), Laffin Lena's (fun house), and the Helter Skelter bumper car buildings. But until that fire, there was always a tangible reminder of Idora Park.

Over time, Mt. Calvary failed to build their religious complex, the property decayed, and it was not secured from trespassers. The former Idora Park's remaining structures were eventually vandalized, destroyed by natural elements, or succumbed to arson.

By 1999, Conneaut Lake Park Management Group (which had taken over Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania; about 65 mi (100 km) from Idora Park), attempted to negotiate the purchase of either the Jack Rabbit or Wild Cat from the property owners. Blueprints for both rides were still available, so they could be refurbished at Conneaut. The group also planned to purchase the complete merry-go-round from the owners in New York. These plans never materialized. The ballroom, Jack Rabbit, and Wild Cat remained unpreserved on the property.

On March 5, 2001, the final chapter to Idora Park's history was written when the Ballroom burned down. The fire reportedly started in the basement and was suspicious in nature. The Jack Rabbit and other remaining wooden structures were not destroyed by this fire. Days after the fire, an interview with the property owners stated that they "offered to allow (preservation groups) to take the roller coasters down as long as they funded it and had proper insurance and bonding".[6] However, on July 26, 2001, the Wild Cat, Jack Rabbit, and all other decaying structures (all unsalvageable) were demolished by bulldozers to prevent any future fires. City officials had asked that the coasters be removed since they were hazardous to the public. Both the Jack Rabbit and Wild Cat were listed on the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) preservation list. Inaction by the park property owners to preserve these remaining Idora Park historic structures ultimately led to their destruction. In a 2001 news conference following the Ballroom's messy asbestos cleanup, Mt. Calvary Pentecostal Church restated that: "This future complex (City of God) will only help the entire community but especially youth... hopes to break ground no later than next spring (2002). The entire project should take at least two years to complete."[7] As of May 3, 2013, Mt. Calvary Pentecostal Church has yet to break ground on the "City of God" project.[8]