Abandoned Idora Amusement Park

This place is on private property. Listing for informational purposes only. Please do not visit without express permission from the land owner.

Idora Park (1899–1984) was a northeastern Ohio amusement park popularly known as "Youngstown's Million Dollar Playground."

Built by the Youngstown Park and Falls Street Railway Company, the park's expansion coincided with the growth of the South Side of Youngstown, Ohio, in the Fosterville neighborhood. Prior to its closure in the wake of a devastating fire, Idora Park was one of the nation's few remaining urban amusement parks.

One of the park's many attractions was a 3,000-foot (910 m) wooden roller coaster called The Wild Cat, which was built in 1929. 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 1984–1985 season, park owners reversed the trains of the Jack Rabbit and renamed it the "Back Wabbit."

Nonetheless, by the early 1980s, the park was a relic that also housed relics: it now housed rides from other parks, such as Euclid Beach Park in Cleveland and West View Park outside of Pittsburgh, that met their end in the 1960s.

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 this fire, there was always a tangible reminder of Idora Park.