Old Chicago in Bolingbrook: The Indoor Amusement Park That Didn't Last
In 1975, Bolingbrook opened what was billed as the world's first indoor amusement park, with roller coasters under a dome and shops all around. Five years later, the rides were gone.
Rides and roller coasters, indoors, open all year, in the suburbs. In 1975 it sounded like the future. It lasted five years.
Opening day
Old Chicago opened on June 17, 1975, at Bolingbrook Drive near I-55 in Bolingbrook. It was billed as the world's first indoor amusement park: a big square building with a domed center, rides and attractions under the dome, and shops around the outside, done up to look like old Chicago streets.
The star ride was "The Chicago Loop," a looping roller coaster and one of the early coasters built by Arrow Development (later Arrow Dynamics). There were other coasters, a carousel, and flat rides, all under one roof.
In the first months, it drew big crowds, reportedly around 50,000 people a weekend.
What went wrong
Almost right away, money was a problem:
- Construction costs ran way over budget.
- No big department store anchors to bring in regular shoppers.
- Competition. Marriott's Great America opened in Gurnee in 1976, an outdoor park with bigger rides.
- Location. In 1975, Bolingbrook was still a young suburb on the edge of the region.
By 1978, the mall was closing on some weekdays. In early 1980, the amusement park shut down and the rides were sold off. The building stood empty for years and was torn down in 1986.
What's left
Not much. The site has been redeveloped. A piece of Old Chicago's history lives on at the National Roller Coaster Museum, and plenty of Chicagoland families still have photos from the dome.
Why people still talk about it
Old Chicago was ahead of its time. Indoor theme parks attached to malls later worked elsewhere, most famously at the Mall of America in Minnesota. Old Chicago got there first and didn't survive it.
For more lost parks, see Kiddieland in Melrose Park, Riverview Park and Santa's Village.
Photo: Old Chicago (2253142429).jpg) by Payton Chung from DCA, USA, CC BY 2.0.