Youngstown Demon
A few notes from the author:
Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio was once a promising area. The city had everything going for it. In the world wars, the Youngstown area was one of the primary steel providers in the country. Virtually everybody worked in the steel mills, it was what was expected of many families.
There was a world reknown theme park in Youngstown, Idora Park.
The massive ballroom was a favorite of the visitors.
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Idora Park was built in 1899 and abandoned in 1984 when an accidental welding fire claimed the main coaster (Wild cat) and a dark ride.
This fire effectively closed the park down for good.
The park is a skeletal frame of what it once was, many of the rides that were unaffected by the fire were sold off. What remains of Idora Park is the charred remnants of the Wild Cat, once said to be the most exciting coaster in the nation, and a few buildings. The ballroom remained until a second fire, in 2001 claimed it and a few food stands in the area.
The steel slowly left the area over a period of seven years beginning in the early seventies. With the loss of jobs, many people left the area in search of work elsewhere. With the population dwindling, many businesses left the area; no customers no money.
There are beautiful homes here in areas that have become ghettos. Empty floors and empty buildings, remnants of a high class society now reduced to a virtual ghost town.
The bustling and thriving community of the 60's, once populating more than 170,000 is no more. All that remains is an economically depressed area; a dense population; and a high crime rate.
Like Idora Park, Youngstown is a skeleton of it's former glory. Unlike Idora Park, somewhere there is a heartbeat still trying to beat.
The perfect setting, perhaps.
I, and the protagonst of this story work in the taller white building to the right that is illustrated in this post card.
This brief history lesson on Youngstown is necessary for you to understand the full scope of the area, as the city plays a major role in this story.
Enough of that, though. On with the story.
Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio was once a promising area. The city had everything going for it. In the world wars, the Youngstown area was one of the primary steel providers in the country. Virtually everybody worked in the steel mills, it was what was expected of many families.
There was a world reknown theme park in Youngstown, Idora Park.
The massive ballroom was a favorite of the visitors.
Idora Park was built in 1899 and abandoned in 1984 when an accidental welding fire claimed the main coaster (Wild cat) and a dark ride.
This fire effectively closed the park down for good.
The park is a skeletal frame of what it once was, many of the rides that were unaffected by the fire were sold off. What remains of Idora Park is the charred remnants of the Wild Cat, once said to be the most exciting coaster in the nation, and a few buildings. The ballroom remained until a second fire, in 2001 claimed it and a few food stands in the area.
The steel slowly left the area over a period of seven years beginning in the early seventies. With the loss of jobs, many people left the area in search of work elsewhere. With the population dwindling, many businesses left the area; no customers no money.
There are beautiful homes here in areas that have become ghettos. Empty floors and empty buildings, remnants of a high class society now reduced to a virtual ghost town.
The bustling and thriving community of the 60's, once populating more than 170,000 is no more. All that remains is an economically depressed area; a dense population; and a high crime rate.
Like Idora Park, Youngstown is a skeleton of it's former glory. Unlike Idora Park, somewhere there is a heartbeat still trying to beat.
The perfect setting, perhaps.
I, and the protagonst of this story work in the taller white building to the right that is illustrated in this post card.
This brief history lesson on Youngstown is necessary for you to understand the full scope of the area, as the city plays a major role in this story.
Enough of that, though. On with the story.
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