Upon Kiddieland's Imminent Closing, A Retrospective of Small Chicago Parks

Well worth reading:

...Now the area's last "kiddie park," Kiddieland in Melrose Park, will shut its gates forever Sept. 27, ending another chapter in Chicago history. For Chicago was not only the city that invented the concept of the "midway" and boasted the world's first Ferris Wheel, both at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, it was also home to the country's first modern amusement park, Paul Boyton's Water Chute, which opened in 1894. By 1908, according to the Chicago History Museum's "Encyclopedia of Chicago," the city had more amusement parks than any other place in the United States. Among them were such notables as Trout Park in Elgin, which still exists as a recreation area, and Electric Park in Plainfield.

Unfortunately, Kiddieland's demise is not such a huge surprise, says Chuck Schaden, the recently retired host of the "Those Were the Days" radio show and author of "Riverview: Gone but Not Forgotten." In fact, that it survived from 1929 through 2009 is a remarkable feat, as is the fact that until three years ago, another children's amusement park, Santa's Village in East Dundee, was also still in business.

"These places were the most memorable parts of childhood," he says. "People would bring their families, and then the kids would go themselves when they were teenagers. Later, the kids would bring their families and pass along the tradition....

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/courier...-090807.article