Americana Amusement Park/LeSourdsville Lake

The highlight of the decade was the addition of the Raging Thunder Log Flume in 1984. The attraction represented the largest investment in the park's 77 year history and helped boost the annual attendance over 500,000. The flume, designed by Ron Berni and built by Barr Engineering of Minnesota, was located in a former bird sanctuary in the old Tombstone Territory section of the park. The area was renamed Logger's Run after the flume was added.

The recession in the early 1980s began affecting attendance at the park. As a result, gate admission was reduced from $6.95 to $5.50 in 1982. New attractions that year included a transformation of the Hanneford Circus tent into a platform for Bumper Buggys, a soft-core version of bumper cars.

At the end of the 1982, longtime park vice president, William "Bill" Robinson, left the park. He was replaced by industry veteran Lenny Gottstein. In May 1983, Food Services Director Frank Silvani passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. To say the least, the catering operation the park was renown for took a major hit. But other changes were on the way.

In 1985, the park auctioned off its 1924 PTC #71 carousel horses. It was unfortunate that the carousel was dispersed, however, as fate would have it, the carousel burned to the ground in an accidental fire in 1988. Over $500,000 in damages was reported, including the loss of the park's 1925 Dodgem' ride.

In 1987, the Galleon swinging ship was installed in Logger's Run. At the end of the season, park vice president Guy Sutton left to take a position with a industry consulting firm.

After the carousel fire, the park purchased a used Galaxi roller coaster from Nobles Funland Amusement Park in Paducah, Kentucky and installed it on the midway. Attendance at the park was maintained at 500,000. Americana had survived a variety of personnel changes and a major fire during the decade. The park was looking toward the 1990s with much optimism.


advertisement 1982 [Photo credit: SOAPHS archives]	advertisement 1984 [Photo credit: SOAPHS archives]	advertisement 1986 [Photo credit: SOAPHS archives]

advertisement 1988 [Photo credit: SOAPHS archives]	advertisement 1989 [Photo credit: SOAPHS archives]	The park's Olympic size swimming pool has provided a full day of fun for thousands of area residents [Photo credit: park archives]

The front entrance of the park was remodeled in 1978 to provide a drop off/pick up area [Photo credit: park archives]	The front gate area was constructed in the late 1960's and was replaced in 1990 after the Bathhouse fire [Photo credit: park archives]	The motion picture "Fresh Horses" with Molly Ringwold and Andrew McCarthy was mostly filmed in the Greater Cincinnati area. A portion of the movie was filmed at Americana in 1988 [Photo credit: SOAPHS archives]

Grandma Berni's French Fry stand was a popular spot in the 1980's [Photo credit: park archives]	Kiddieland has been a strong attraction for parents with small children [Photo credit: park archives]	The midway as it looked in 1980 [Photo credit: Debby Berni Robison]

After the log flume was installed, Tombstone Territory was renamed Logger's Run [Photo credit: park archives]	[Photo credit: park archives]	The Raging Thunder Log Flume is the most expensive attraction ever installed at the park

After the log flume was installed, Tombstone Territory was renamed Logger's Run [Photo credit: park archives]	Uncle Freddy bids a final farewell [Photo credit: park archives]	The mascot was discontinued after the 1989 season [Photo credit: park archives]