Un-spectacular park settings

Oh ok, I happen to frequent the site and noticed the "Fantazy Land" pictures, and it's a wonder places like those are aloud to exist at all.

As pretty as the park is inside, Kennywood is really situated around a dung hole when you think about it.... A 4-lane highway up front, an abandoned strip mall across the road, a small group of old dilapidated homes on the Exterminator/T=Bolt side, a railroad yard in the valley below the Racer/Jack Rabbit side... and a smelly mill across the river!

Just across the bridge on the Jack Rabbit side is Duquesne, which is not a nice place to say the least; and right above the vacant strip mall is a heinous apartment complex (if you can call it that).

If only more of the "smelly mills" could have stayed open, maybe we would still have our beloved West View :(

Some of that area surrounding KW should change in the future. KW now owns that strip mall and they are expecting to tear it down sometime in the future for a hotel and indoor waterpark. They have also been buying up some of those "dilapidated" houses north of the park. This might be a potential place to relocate some of the maintainence buildings if not to expand the park itself.

If the new highway goes in, more of the development south and west of the park will become things like hotels, restaurants, etc. As for the mill across the river, it isn't a thing of beauty but it is the last operating integrated steel mill in the Pittsburgh area so it has historic significance.

I finally checked out Boomerang Bay @ PKI and I have to say, was not all that impressed with the look. The massive powerline going through the center of it really cheapens the vibe! When compared to the rest of the park it just looks hurried and cheap.

I actually like some of the urban surroundings of SFKK: the big expo center - Freedom Hall is a pretty famous place. You can also see Churchill Downs, Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, and Downtown Louisville from the taller rides.

But I do have to agree with my home waterpark, Boomerang Bay - a bit too sprawling and too much concrete for its size... and it used to look a lot worse prior to '04! Not much you can do about those power lines though.

One of the worst settings is Adventureland in Farmingdale, Long Island. It's on a highly traveled commercial strip (Route 110) and all of the rides with any height give you a nice look at the roof of the Target Store next door.

Here this has to be the worst, its in Fallujah.

article

Knott's Berry Farm.

PGA

Although California in general is a gorgeous state, the areas surrounding these two parks are anything but spectacular. Unless you have a thing for smog, office buildings and dirty city streets. *** Edited 7/21/2006 4:10:37 AM UTC by DWeaver***

---

Chooch249 said:
As pretty as the park is inside, Kennywood is really situated around a dung hole when you think about it.... A 4-lane highway up front, an abandoned strip mall across the road, a small group of old dilapidated homes on the Exterminator/T=Bolt side, a railroad yard in the valley below the Racer/Jack Rabbit side... and a smelly mill across the river!

Just across the bridge on the Jack Rabbit side is Duquesne, which is not a nice place to say the least; and right above the vacant strip mall is a heinous apartment complex (if you can call it that).

If only more of the "smelly mills" could have stayed open, maybe we would still have our beloved West View

---

I actually liked West View better the Kennywood,there was a time West View was more popular and buzier than Kennywood.

Beech Bend comes to mind. You nearly get lost driving this meandering backwoods farm road on the skirts of Bowling Green KY to find... a parking lot with some rides in it.

I betcha didn't expect to see USF/IoA in *this* thread...

BGT is even worse.

Miracle Strip HAD the best location. Wonder how *those* condos are coming along... :(

---

Den said:
It's in the middle of a gritty urban area, across the street from the airport and surrounded by interstate highways. And of course, a road runs through the middle of it.

---

Alltogether, this sounds like it could be a pretty spectacular setting in fact :)
But of course, I think the difference between spectacular and un-spectacular is subjective after all. *** Edited 7/21/2006 3:55:34 PM UTC by superman***

West View was situated in a much nicer community than Kennywood but suffered from being landlocked woth no place to expand. The turning point for West View ws in the mid 1960s.

By the middle of that decade West View was actually starting to surpass Kennywood with some of its ride offerings. Its coasters were generally regarded as being better and the park had added a new darkride, a gas-powered auto ride, and a sky ride. The Kiddieland was also expanded and became one of the largest in the country. KW continued to have a larger and more attractive carousel, a better walkthrough (Noah's Ark) and a boat darkride (Old Mill). It also had better landscaping and a friendlier staff.

After the 1964 season, West View's main owner died and the park passed to an elderly woman who had little interest in operating a park. One person from California that had some concessions in the park considered buying it but decided against this because the park could not be expanded easily.

For over a decade the park limped along, occasionaly adding a new flat ride but otherwise not making many changes. Meanwhile Kennywood modified their best coaster into the Thunderbolt, put in an even nicer car ride, and kept adding numerous flats. West View did get a bit of a boost in the late 1960s when Rainbow Gardens closed and both KW and West View gained some new picnic groups. This might have held of the inevitable closing by several years.

In the early 1970s, KW finally resolved the one problem that prevented it from making even more ambitious changes when it bought the land that the park sat on (eliminating concern that the park land would be sold to developers). The log flume, costing $1 million followed. West View couldn't match this and KW never looked back after this.

As school districts consolidated, more chose to go to KW and the West View school picnics were crammed into fewer dates. Many middle class residents of the areas north of Pittsburgh started to go to KW more as well as the Ohio parks such as CP and GL. (the latter also was to ultimately lead to the end of Idora as well). Finally, after the 1977 season, the park closed. It sat, unused and minus its flat rides for years until it was sold for a shopping center.

^^ very well written Arthur.

I agree,when Kennywood bought the land and put the log jammer in,that was the end to West View.

I beleive the president of the park was a older lady,Margret Hable,and the owners were older too,think there name was Koontz(sp?).

I'd say GL fits the bill. Yeah, there is a lake, but there is nothing great about it.
There used to be woods and wetlands across from it, now there's just another Walmart and strip mall.

Don't forget that in most cases, the parks were there before the strip malls, fast food joints, and other assorted development. So you can't blame the parks for what gets built outside their gates.

^I'm not blaming the park. I'm just saying it looked better then.
Last time i road GL's Space Needle, there were more cars parked at Walmart than GL.

---

Fierce Pancake said:
Beech Bend comes to mind. You nearly get lost driving this meandering backwoods farm road on the skirts of Bowling Green KY to find... a parking lot with some rides in it.

---

But it is right next to a drag-strip and not far from the glorious Corvette Museum, how could the setting be more spectacular? ;)

Maybe Beech Bend isn't the prettiest place in the world but Paul Drabeck's pictures of those meandering roads are actually quite lovely.

http://www.negative-g.com/BeechBend/2002/Beech-Bend-7-4-02-Road-1.jpg

http://www.negative-g.com/BeechBend/2002/Beech-Bend-7-4-02-road-2.jpg

Flyingscooter, I wasn't singling you out. There were several posts mentioning Wal-marts, Targets, and housing developments.