 1988
In the News |
Americana Ride To Be Inspected After Accident
By
Perry Richardson and
Christopher Ryan
Hamilton Journal-News
June 27, 1988
LEMON
TOWNSHIP – Americana Amusement Park officials said operators of
the Log Ride will “visually inspect” the ride’s boats
for excess water after a freak accident Wednesday.
Debra Jones, 32, of Coralie Street in Hamilton, said she as riding the
water-splash ride Wednesday night with her son, two sisters-in-law and
a niece when the brakes apparently failed and their boat sped out of
control.
“We either had to jump off or drown, so we jumped,” she
said. “The boat filled up with too much water and it just shot
off like a rocket. The water pressure was stinging us. I saw my son’s
head keep bobbing up and down in the water.”
Jones and Wanda Smith, her sister-in-law, were treated for minor injuries
at Mercy Hospital of Fairfield and released. Jones suffered a mild concussion
and a sprained ankle, and Smith a leg injury and abrasions, a hospital
spokeswoman said Friday. Jones’ son, Tony, 12, suffered a split
lip, and he and two other unidentified riders were treated for cuts
and bruises by paramedics at the scene, the mother said.
“It was one big nightmare,” Jones said. “It was really
scary. That boat was too heavy because of all that water in it. We got
to the end of the ride and the brakemen pulled two black handles back
and then yelled “the brakes aren’t working.”
The boat sank after the five people jumped to safety about 10 feet down
an incline onto a landing area. Jones said she lost a shoe and her change
purse, which contains identification and $50 in cash.
“I hit my head on something and passed out, and I couldn’t
get up on my ankle when I woke up,” she said. Smith, 42, of Millville
Ave., said she is recovering at home from a leg injury and bruises on
her arms.
“It scared us to death,” she said. “It was really
something. We were out of control and had no choice but to jump or drown.
That current was so swift and the boat so full of water. The boat sank
in the deepest part of the ride, and we’d have been down there
with it if we hadn’t jumped.”
Tom Justice, vice president of Courtesy Ambulance, said he transported
two people from Americana to the Fairfield hospital about 8 p.m. Wednesday.
James Kucinski, operations manager of the amusement park, said the boat
apparently filled with water because drainage holes were partially blocked.
“It has not occurred before,” Kucinski said. “We are
now aware of that possibility and we are trying to take corrective measures.”
Operators of the ride will visually inspect every one of the boats as
they pass to make sure they are not filled with water, Kucinski said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Park Picks Up the Pieces: Replacing Americana merry-go-round will be tough
By
Christopher Ryan
Hamilton Journal-News
May 29, 1988
LESOURDSVILLE – Americana Amusement Park hopes to rebuild by July
4 the bumper car ride destroyed in a fire Saturday, but the merry-go-round
also lost in the blaze is not likely to be replaced this season. Americana
President Howard Berni said the cause of the Saturday afternoon fire
has not been determined. The fire did close to $1 million in damage.
Of the two rides, the dodgem cars will be easier to replace, Berni said.
“I hope, with my fingers crossed, that we can get it in before
July 4,” he said. But replacing the 1923-1924 merry-go-round will
be difficult, Berni added, explaining, “we have to find one.”
Only one American company still makes merry-go-rounds, Berni said, but
those rides are too small for Americana’s needs. Instead, the
park will have to search for an amusement park going out of business
and buy its merry-go-round, or else look in foreign countries, Berni
said.
Berni said he doesn’t expect to install a new merry-go-round this
year. “We’ll start looking now,” he said.
Despite the fire, Americana is now open normal hours, Berni said, adding
“everything is operating except those two rides.”
“We’ve already demolished a lot of the debris,” he
said. “Tuesday, we will be clearing it out.”
About 4,000 people were in the park at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday when
the fire began in the roof of the $500,000 merry-go-round and spread
to the bumper car ride next door, Berni said. A basketball game and
a “high-strike” game, in which players use a hammer to hit
a block up a pole, were also damaged.
Operators of the merry-go-round evacuated the area as soon as they smelled
smoke, and flames broke out after everyone was away.
“The kids did an excellent job getting the people off the rides,”
Berni said.
At least nine fire departments were called in, said Lemon Township Fire
Chief Tom Cobaugh Sr., and the fire was brought under control about
5 p.m. A Lemon Township police officer and firefighter were taken to
Middletown Regional Hospital for smoke inhalation. Firefighter Tom Cobaugh
Jr. and police officer Vincent Lovejoy were treated and released, a
hospital spokeswoman said.
None of the park’s patrons were injured in the blaze.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Fire Destroys Two Rides at Americana Park: No One Injured But Damage Might Total $500,000
By
Irene Wright
Cincinnati Enquirer
May 28, 1988
Part of Miami Valley’s history was lost Saturday when a merry-go-round
dating from the 1920s and another ride at Americana Amusement Park were
destroyed by fire. Heavy black smoke could be seen curling skyward from
miles away as the flames spread from the merry-go-round to the Dodgem
ride and threatened a strip f wooden game stalls.
About 6,500 people were in the park on Ohio 4 between Middletown and
Hamilton when the fire broke out. No injuries were reported, but damage
was estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. James Kucinski,
operations manager, said they could range as high as $400,000 to $500,000.
Fire unties from 11 townships responded to the fire: Lemon, Liberty,
LeSourdsville, South Middletown, Seven Mile, St. Clair, Wayne, Fairfield,
Madison, Monroe and Trenton.
“We’re calling for a bulldozer to start leveling the area,”
Kucinski said as firefighters still poured water on the smoldering timbers.
“We’ will start construction immediately on a merry-go-round
an Dodgem ride.”
The domed merry-go-round ride dated to about 1924, but the original
carved wood horses were sold at auction in 1986, Kucinski said. They
were replaced by metal horses, some of which remained as stark silhouettes
against the burned timbers. “The merry-go-round was a humongous
building,” Joe Faggionato, owner of a game at the park, said.
“They just had a new roof put on it. You can tell by the timbers
that they don’t build them that way anymore.”
The Dodgem, a bumper card ride, was built about 1940, Kucinski said.
Flames also destroyed the basketball game owned by Faggionato. Park
officials noticed smoke coming from the merry-go-round about 3 p.m.
Lennie Gottstein, park general manager, said. “We got everybody
off the ride, then called the fire department.”
“It wasn’t bad at first,” Valerie Webb, 16, a games
supervisor, said. “But by the time the fire department got here,
smoke was coming out everywhere. In the middle of the merry-go-round
on the bottom is where it started.”
Faggionato's mother, Bee Faggionato, an owner of the strip of game stalls
threatened by the fire said, “Everything happened so fast, we
were worried. We closed the games and took the kids (employee attendants)
out.”
Between 50 and 75 firefighters had trouble fighting the fire because
of the extreme hear, inaccessibility of equipment and lack of water.
Webb said firefighters at first didn’t have enough water pumps.
She said they started using water from the lake.
“We had plenty of equipment, but we couldn’t get it all
in because of the way the park is arranged,” said Tom Cobaugh,
chief of the LeSourdsville department.
Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion, Cobaugh said. Another
firefighter was treated at the scene for minor burns. Kucinski said
flames caught an electrical pole on fire and damaged wires. The Cincinnati
Gas & Electric Co. asked that all park rides be closed until damage
was repaired. The park stayed open and started rides again 30 minutes
later. The evening closing time was extended from 10:30 p.m. until midnight,
Kucinski said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Blaze Hits Americana: Damage estimated as high as $1 million
By
Christopher Ryan
Hamilton Journal-News
May 28, 1988
LESOURDSVILLE
– A nine-alarm fire destroyed a merry-go-round and bumper car
ride at Americana Amusement Park Saturday, causing an estimated $1 million
in damage and sending a firefighter and a police officer to the hospital
for smoke inhalation.
Witnesses said flames were leaping above the rides and there was a thick
column of smoke when firefighters arrived at the park, which is between
Hamilton and Middletown on Ohio 4.
No one was inured as the two rides were evacuated. The park closed for
about 30 minutes, but reopened later Saturday. Several thousand people
were in the park at the time of the fire, Americana official said. Lemon
Township Fire Chief Tom Cobaugh Sr. said the fire started between 3
p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the merry-go-round. “The merry-go-round
was completely engulfed in flames when I arrived,” he said.
The fire destroyed the $500,000 merry-go-round, dating from 1923-24
and spread to the 18-car “dodgem” ride. Both were total
losses, said Ron Berni, Americana Amusement Park vice president. The
fire also damaged a basketball game and a “high-strike”
game, in which players use a hammer to hit a block up a pole, Berni
said.
Lemon Township firefighter Tom Cobaugh Jr. and Lemon Township police
officer Vincent Lovejoy were taken to Middletown Regional Hospital suffering
from smoke inhalation. They were treated and released Saturday afternoon,
a hospital spokeswoman said.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control at about 5 p.m., Chief
Cobaugh said, adding that at least nine fire departments responded to
the fire.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, the chief said. But Berni
said an electrical fault in the merry-go-round was the likely cause.
Damage was close to $1 million, Berni said, mostly from the loss of
the merry-go-round. “It’s probably irreplaceable.”
Operators of the merry-go-round and dodgem rides turned off their rides
and evacuated the area as soon as they smelled smoke.
“It was right at shift-change, at 3:30 p.m.,” said Jim Kucinski,
Americana operations manager. About 23 people were on the merry-go-round
at the time.
Merry-go-round operator Aldius Weaver was about to be replaced by Tanya
Pendergraff, Kucinski said. “They immediately smelled smoke coming
from the roof of the ride,” and stopped the ride to clear the
area.
The fire gradually engulfed the roof of the merry-go-round, then spread
to the dodgem ride, Kucinski said.
“Everybody left the area in an orderly manner,” Berni said.
The area was clear before flames broke out.
The park closed for about 30 minutes at the request of Cincinnati Gas
and Electric Co. because flames were reaching an electric pole, Kucinski
said. The park reopened after power was redirected.
Kucinski said the park would stay open an extra two hours Saturday night
and will maintain regular hours for the rest of the season.
Crews will clear the debris by Tuesday, Kucinski said, but he did not
know when the rides would be replaced.
“I doubt if it will open at all this year,” Berni said.
Patrons who left the park when it closed were given passes good for
admission in to the park day this season, Kucinski added.
Americana Amusement Park also suffered a large fire about three years
ago, Berni said. That fire destroyed half of a roller coaster’s
first hill.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Americana Amusement Park
April 1988
Americana Amusement Park says its big news is another giant Pirate Ship filled with children's play elements.
The theme ship contains about 2,220 square feet of space on three levels. It includes curved and spiral slides, straight and spiral cargo net climbs, web and regular crawl tubes, punching bags and a ball crawl pit.
Other plans call for paddle boats on the lake and a midway stage move, which will allow for covered seating for 1,000 guests.
Americana has 26 adult rides, 18 kiddie rides, swimming and a large picnic grove. The most popular attractions are the wooden humpback roller coaster, "Screechin' Eagle," and the log flume, "Raging Thunder."
To sum up: Americana Amusement Park will open its gates at 10 a.m. April 16 and 17 and will be open until 7 p.m. Operation will be limited to weekends until May 26 when the park opens daily for the remainder of the season.
Summer hours are 10 a.m.-111 p.m. saturdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays and 10 a.m.-8 pm. weekdays.
General admission is $9.50 for ages 7-59. Children ages 3-6 and seniors 60 and older pay $4.50, and children 2 and under are free. Groups of 25 people or more can get a $5.75 adult group rate or a $3.95 kid';s or senior's group rate.
School rates of $4.50 per student are available. Prices include admission, rides, shows and swimming. Season passes are $29.95.
Americana is located at 5757 Middletown-Hamilton Road (Ohio 4) in Middletown. Take the Monroe exit (Exit 29) off Interstate 75.
For information, call 513-539-7339.
