Leaps And Bounds, and Discovery Zone. Not sure if they were local only (St. Louis, MO) but they were sort of combination arcades/jungle gyms for kids to go to.
We had an amusement park called Geauga Lake close to where I grew up in Ohio. Not quite as big as the famous Cedar Point park which was a couple of hours away by car, but it had quite a history, and was a really popular one for school trips, company picnics, etc. It went through some ownership changes, and was eventually closed and left to rot with many of the original structures still sitting there after the coaster parts were sold off. Haven't looked into it for a number of years, but it was weird seeing that same entrance building we walked through so many times just decaying.
There used to be a nice little place in the woods, near my house, where people used to walk their dogs, light off fireworks, smoke a little weed and just get out of the house to hang out. There used to be a little ranger shack out there because it used to be a place where people would go as an actual park before it became run down. About 10 years ago some development company associated with the New England Patriots announced that they were going to build an indoor sports field thing for soccer and flag football and stuff like that. Long story short none of that happened and what the company did was they worked with the city to start tearing down old buildings from all around the city, and then dumping the debris and waste in the area. They promised they would build a sports facility in. Needless to say, local residents were shocked and appalled because it was in a heavy residential neighborhood less than a half mile from a school, and it was completely illegal and unethical. I proceeded to contact every local newspaper, and even Erin Brockovich and her foundation. To date nothing has been done really about the gigantic piles of waste in building debris, except that the company was ordered to stop doing so in a town meeting where a state reps showed up.
Sega World Sydney. It was a whole theme park based around Sega properties in Sydney, Australia. Rides themed around classic Sega arcade games, Sonic paraphernalia everywhere, a huge arcade and overpriced Sega merch shop. One ride entirely took place in virtual reality, with headsets for everybody. I wasn't even a Sega kid, but it was amazing.
I have a similar waterpark story except mine closed around 2005. It was my first job and I would ride my bike to and from there and goofed off with my highschool friends, all while getting paid for most of the summer. It was closed the next year and later demolished and a huge mansion erected in it's wake.
My Secondary (High) School - levelled to build houses a few years ago.
If this had happened when I was still a pupil I would have been overjoyed to turn up for School one day and find a pile of rubble instead, but now I feel a bit sad at the destruction of a bit of my personal history.
there's simply so much awesome content .. this question was 1 of, if not the hardest to ask .. and yes ..thanks for the reminder of this amazing tune .. it never went away in my head but it's not to be humming it again :P
The farm I grew up on. They flattened this HUGE hill to do it as well. They removed a creek, natural lake, and tons of forest. For a flat, treeless, subdivision.
The mall I used to ride my bike to as a child, where my favorite Arcade (Aladdin's Castle) & had a toy store (K.B. Toys) was leveled to the ground about 20 years ago, with the exception of like two restaurants at the corner of the building.
It's now some fake ass 'downtown' like outdoor mall, in Michigan, with terrible parking & it's just gross.
I miss Meadowbrook Mall, man, I miss it a lot.
I was gonna say "The Arcade" but you made me remember the entire mall it resided in got blown up.
Town centers and outdoor outlet centers are just malls, but worse. No AC, fewer small businesses somehow, parking shoved in between the stores, and (in the town centers) half-assed (at best) mixed use.
For all of their many, many flaws, a lot of malls actually fell backwards into accidentally doing some interesting things in terms of being community spaces.
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