Yet another institution goes out of business

Dude, I’m tellin ya…………

Despite the Bears comeback victory, Sunday was still a sad day for many in the Chicagoland area.

Yet another decades-old business and a sentimental landmark for many had to shut its doors. Kiddieland, the family-run amusement park for children in the suburb of Melrose Park celebrated its last day this past Sunday.

At least in this case, it was more of a family squabble than the economy per se. Apparently the decendants of the owners have a rather odd inheritance structure wherein one faction owns the land (and subsequently the lease on it), while the other faction owns the business itself. The group that owns the land does not want to re-new the lease for the Kiddieland group. Whether it is a matter of the property owners wanting to sell the land outright and liquidate their holdings……I don’t know. If that was the case, I would think that the Kiddieland owners would make a hardcore effort to purchase the land from (I assume) their own relatives. Perhaps they did pursue that option, but it was just not economically feasible in these times.

Perhaps there is just pure animosity between these two family factions and the property owners simply refuse to sell the land to the business owners.

Whatever the case, the sad part is that another institution of my youth—-and a source of joy and entertainment for tens of thousands of others——is now gone.

The place had been around since 1929. As co-owner Tom Norini put it, “It’s as simple as we lost the lease. Our time is up.”

So now Kiddieland has gone the way of Riverview (Chicago), Old Chicago (Bolingbrook), Santa’s Village (West Dundee), Dispensa’s Kiddie Kingdom (OakBrook Terrace), Playland (Justice), and Adventureland (Addison). Local, less-expensive amusement parks geared toward children have gone the way of the traveling circus. Sure, Six Flags Great America in Gurnee is still open just as Ringling Brothers Circus still makes the rounds.

But as one of the guys in my football-watching circle put it on Sunday, “all that’s left is the gang-controlled Great America. And I’m practically scared to go there”. {Keep in mind, this is a 42 year old man saying this} He got a few laughs from the group out of that one.

There used to be dozens of traveling circus companies who went from city-to-city by train and were a staple of every kid’s childhood. But the advent of vaudeville, baseball games, motion pictures, and other forms of entertainment eroded the audience base. There’s only so many dollars in a family’s entertainment budget. The only circus troupes I can name these days are Ringling Brothers and Cirque de Soleil. And now the same fate has now swallowed up the local, children’s theme parks.

My grandma used to take me, my brother, and our two cousins out to all of these former amusement parks (except Riverview, of course). I remember riding the Mighty Mouse and the Chicago Loop roller coasters. Another buddy at the football gathering started singing the Kiddie Kingdom song from memory….

“Every ride a quarterrrr….six for a dollar!”

So it seems that another fond memory from my generation’s youth is now history. These days, I felt most of my nostalgic remorse when one of my favorite bars shut down. And there has been a lot of those closures in the last 5-10 years. But this particular venue shutting down—even for apparent reasons other than the economy—–tugged at the heart strings a little bit.

All is not lost though if you have a few bucks. The owner, Tom Norini, said that all of the rides and equipment are for sale. This includes a vintage carousel dating back to 1925. He said he hopes to sell all of it to a single owner who will continue to use it.

It’s just too bad that Michael Jackson checked out recently. He could have mad some inexpensive additions to Neverland. Even though he allegedly didn’t like to be around the property as much after the allegations that took place there. But maybe some local outfit will buy the stuff and open up a new place. If Kiddieland is only closing because of what Norini said was basically “a lost lease” on the land, then they must have been turning an acceptable profit to have kept going. And there certainly isn’t a lot of competition out there anymore for kids-oriented amusement parks. Someone should look into it……….

Maybe the Latin Kings, the Gangster Disciples, the El Rukns (are they still even around?), or one of the other decision-makers at Great America can explore diversifying their empire. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?