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| Aerial overview of the far end of Dream Street. The Traffic Jam and Roundup rides appear to be complete though the neighboring Giant Wheel, Gingerbread Fancy and Skyride Station appear to have just begun preliminary foundation work. |
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Aerial view looking towards the parking area. The "tent" building under construction here would serve as the parks Administration Building until the early 1980's. Today this building serves as the entrance and exit gift shop for Superman: Ultimate Flight and houses the Escape From Alcatraz interactive ride. The pond in the picture was filled during the 1982-83 off season and the Parachuter's Perch and later the Sarajevo Bobsled and Great American Scream Machine would later be built on this site. |
| Aerial view of the Western Section. Here you can see the steel retaining wall which will define the lake edge under Best of the West is in place, and foundation work is taking place for it as well as the Fort. Pilings are also being placed for the Runaway Train's final hops over the lake, and clearing is underway for the Log Flume's run out the peninsula. |
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The restroom building at the (then) Front Gate, still stands at what is now the entry to Bugs Bunny National Park and The Golden Kingdom. These restrooms were expanded the next season, and a First Aid Station (later becoming Lost Parents) was added as well. |
| Workers begin construction on the original front gate buildings at the foot of Dream Street. In the distance, the Carousel appears to be in early stages of construction as well, despite the fact many other structures seem to be nearly complete. |
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The Fountain begins to take shape in the center of Dream Street. The initial design was a single jet which was the tallest in the world. In 1976, the fountain's central location would serve as a hub for the park, as the Front Gate was moved from its location at the end of Dream Street to its current location. |
| The Snake House was an exhibit of snakes and center point of the Happy Feeling petting zoo area. In 1976 the petting zoo moved into Kiddie Kingdom, and the Snake House was converted into The Mad Hatter hat shop. Today this building is a temporary tattoo stand, which sits between the Musik Express and the former Enterprise site. |
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The Helicopter Ride arrives for installation in the park's Ride-A-Rama kids area. This small children's area lasted for two seasons until the Front Gate was moved and Kiddie Kingdom took the place of the original park entrance. |
| One of the most popular early attractions at the park was the Shooting Gallery which was located behind Best of the West in the coils of the Log Flume. The Shooting Gallery was so popular, a second and a third were added to the park in following seasons. Today the Shooting Gallery sits vacant and boarded up, with the attached restrooms only opening for busy concert days. |
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The Matterhorn is assembled with the Roundup in the background. These two flat rides sat between the Gingerbread Fancy and Skyride Station. Matterhorn was moved several times during its time at the park, and along with Calypso were brought in to offer a larger number of attractions for the inaugural season. |
| The concrete bridge abutment is poured to create the entrance road overpass spanning Route 537. With an eye to the future, the overpass is built to accommodate 4 lanes of traffic, though at the time Route 537 was a small country road. |
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The first of the pre-stressed concrete beams is placed atop the abutment. |
| Looking northeast on Route 537, towards Route 195. This small road will soon see a huge increase in traffic. The narrow road is very different than the road that exists today. |
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| Go to the Construction Overview Page |