Riverview Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is an article about the amusement park called Riverview Park. For the neighborhood of that name in Ottawa, Canada, see Riverview (Ottawa). For the amusement park of that name in Baltimore, see Riverview Park (Baltimore).
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Riverview Park was an amusement park in Chicago, Illinois which operated from 1904 to 1967. It was located on 74 acres (0.3 km²) in the area around Belmont and Western Avenues in the North Center community area and neighborhood on Chicago's north side.
Riverview was most known for The Bobs roller coaster. Other popular coasters were The Comet and The Silver Flash. Another roller coaster at the park was the Jetstream. Aladdin's Castle was a classic fun-house with collapsing stairway, maze and turning barrel. Shoot the Chute, Hades, the Rotor, Tilt-a-Whirl, Wild Mouse and Tunnel of Love are just a few of the many classic rides.
The former grounds are now home to Riverview Plaza shopping center, the Belmont District Police Station, and DeVry University. A sculpture entitled "Riverview" by local artist Jerry Peart (1980) stands in front of the police station.
"Big Bill" Haywood, the Industrial Workers of the World leader, once spoke here to a crowd of almost 80,000 people.(Rosemont, Franklin (2002) Joe Hill: The IWW & the Making of a Revolutionary Workingclass Culture, Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company)
Memorabilia from the park is now considered to be quite valuable.
The beautiful Riverview Carousel continues to operate at Six Flags Over Georgia. It and the Rotor were the only rides to be saved, however, the Rotor was scrapped in 2000 after an accident at its newer home.
[edit] Riverview Park in Wisconsin Dells
An unrelated amusement park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin operates under the name of Riverview Park, and has since at least 1971.
Its name comes not from the Chicago amusement park, but from the Riverview Boat Line, a longtime operator of excursion boats and other attractions in Wisconsin Dells.
