| When Playland Park operated it was in Willow Springs which at that time was unincorporated and the area is considered Justice, IL today. The park was located where the Sterling Estates Mobile Home Park at 9300 W 79th Street is today. Only a maintenance building remains today which continues to be a maintenance and storage building for Sterling Estates. The park was a kiddie park operated primarily by the Rocco family. The Rocco's are perhaps best know for being the developers/manufacturers of the Flying Scooters ride. This park was a small showcase for Bisch-Rocco's kiddie and adult rides. There were also a number of ride concessionaires in the later years, some who moved here when Riverview closed. This included one person affiliated with the former Adventureland in Addison, Illinois. The park itself was somewhat boomerang-shaped and looked more like a fair than an amusement park with dirt and gravel walkways, and no landscaping. The front and original section had mostly kiddie rides while the back was expanded into mainly in the 1960's. They was a great set of Lusse bumper cars and a chilling Pretzel Dark Ride. Also, this is where the last Bisch-Rocco Flying Saucer ran (a tilted, rotating platform with two additional platforms that rotated in the same direction, thus providing a whip sensation). Overall there were 30-40 rides in the park. The park closed quietly in 1979 with pressure from IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) expanding roadways, Sterling Estates desire to buy the property and competition from Chicago's newest parks -- Marriott's Great America and Old Chicago. |