Funland slated to open later this summer as restoration project nears completion
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IDAHO FALLS — Funland amusement park near the Idaho Falls Zoo is one step closer to opening after years of renovations.
Dozens of volunteers were at the venue Thursday to do clean up and landscape work. It included leveling ground and digging trenches for watering, putting in gravel on the ground underneath the rides, planting grass in some spots and planting flowers.
Over the last three years, the original rides in the park have been refurbished. A few new ones are being added as well. Among them is a miniature golf course and a family train that goes around the venue and the zoo. Funland Committee treasurer Theresa Flannery doesn’t expect either of these amenities to be available until next year. But she’s hoping to reopen the park sometime in August.
“That’s still pending any last minute things that need to be done like finding people to run it,” Flannery says.
A ribbon-cutting and celebration is being planned for opening day. A specific date and other details will be announced as the project nears completion.
The city purchased the venue from the previous owner in 2019. She was not available for comment, but Flannery says she’d operated it for 20 years and was ready to do something else.
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A restoration project got underway in 2021. The zoo maintenance staff have been heavily involved in restoring the rides, installing power lines, lighting, cement, sidewalks and other construction work. Local businesses and community members have contributed as well.
Flannery estimates $500,000 in private donations have been provided since the project began.
Steven Hatch with Keller Williams Realty in Idaho Falls has fond memories of visiting Funland as a kid and wanted to be involved in revitalizing the park for a new generation to enjoy.
“I have memories riding the rides here as a kid. I have memories of my kids riding the rides here. For it now to come back at an elevated level, and in my case, continue that tradition for my grandkids is really exciting,” Hatch says. “The community’s been so good to us and it’s good to be able to give back.”
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Funland originally opened in 1947. It’s not clear who owned it at the time, but Flannery says a lot of the rides were constructed from stuff he had laying around after the war.
Each of the buckets for the bucket plane ride were once part of the shell of a bomb.
“They were just sitting around and so he put chains on them and made them into a ride for kids,” Flannery explains.
The Eli Wheel is one of the most remembered rides. It was installed in the late 1940s and early 50s. W.E. Sullivan, owner of the Eli Bridge Company, was inspired to build it after his first ride on the Chicago Ferris Wheel in 1893. He collaborated with machinist James H. Clements to make his own version.
“It’s one of the oldest rides in the entire nation to be in its original location,” says Flannery.
All of the rides will have plaques in front of them providing historical information about how they were built.
The log hut next to Funland will be available for parties and other occasions, and Flannery is planning to place photos and other items in a time capsule under the brick plaza during the grand opening celebration.