Community shows up for walkthrough at former Youngstown amusement park site
Forty-two years ago, a fire caused the closure of Idora Park in Youngstown.
On the anniversary of the devastating fire, theme park enthusiasts and local residents participated in a walkthrough at the site of the former amusement park on the south side.
Over a thousand people participated in the walkthrough at Idora Park, including Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell.
Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church owns the 26-acre site of the former amusement park on the south side in Youngstown.
“It’s the first time in 42 years since Idora Park closed in 1984 that the public has been allowed to enter the property park there and stroll the grounds,” Jim Amey said. “The [Mount Calvary Pentecostal] church contacted us and said they wanted to partner with us, to open the gates and let people park on the property.”
Jim and Toni Amey are the curators behind The Idora Park Experience, a collection of artifacts from Idora Park like carnival games and rides in Canfield.
In 2024, the couple collaborated with the Mahoning Valley Historical Society to bring an interactive museum filled with Idora Park artifacts to the public.
“I worked at Idora Park the summer right before I graduated from high school in 1976,” Jim said. “I’d just turned 18, and I worked the football throw game and skeeball. The skeeball machines at Idora burned down in 1984 in that big fire, but we have two machines that are the same year and look as Idora Park’s. We tried to recreate what we could by collecting the artifacts that we could find all around the country.”
Dave Price and Jeff Seich served as tour guides on the walkthrough, pointing out where different rides were situated back in the day.
“We thought maybe we’d get a few hundred people to come, and now we’re getting estimates that the crowd was closer to 1,200. We lost control and couldn’t keep track of how many people came,” Jim said.
Jim said participants in the walkthrough ranged from young kids and students, to older residents and seniors sharing memories.
“It was so awesome to have an amusement park in your hometown. You don’t see those things in very many places where there’s an amusement park right in the town and on the edge of a big park like Mill Creek Park. It was really nostalgic for me to go back,” he said.
