I found some old pictures of Canyon Land Park at the Depot Museum and it brought back memories. The park opened when I was five years old and I can only remember going one time, but it was awesome. I remember taking the chair lift to the bottom of the canyon.
For the 30-plus years that I lived away, I always thought someone would buy that place and restore it to its glory. Unfortunately that never happened. One thing I’ve noticed about us Southerners is that our curiosity and sense of wonder seem to be satisfied quickly and easily. Then we become bored or simply grow tired of things.
Over the years people around here have opened various entertainment-themed businesses, but they never seem to last. Across the road from Fort Payne High School on the hill behind the convenience store was a fun place: a combination of miniature golf and batting cages. In the beginning folks flocked there, but each year it did less business until it closed. In other parts of the country, there are venues like this that stay open for decades.
There was another putt-putt golf place in town when I was a kid that didn’t last long either, and I can even remember a go-kart race track right there on Main Street near Hurley’s Square that started strong and also faded fast.
The skating rinks had a good run. I even went to those a few times myself, but only to socialize. I tried skating a few times but quickly deduced that my body’s center of gravity was not designed to be resting atop eight little wheels. Luckily my dad, teachers, and principals had toughened up my hindquarters, so those hardwood floors didn’t hurt… much.
And it’s not just because of Fort Payne and the surrounding areas being small towns. It was the same in Montgomery. I lived there for almost 20 years and saw many entertainment-type places open, like putt-putt golf, laser tag, arcades, paint ball, bouncy houses, comedy clubs, and even a small water park. None of them lasted long at all.
Huge parks like Six Flags and even Lake Winnie have thrived, but they pull people from all over. It’s the local small-town amusement places that fall short. I think people have become gun-shy about investing the kind of money it takes to open places like these because of the history of failures.
Maybe it’s the times too. Kids today have entertainment galore on their TVs, computers, and phones, so who wants to go to the arcade to set a high score on Donkey Kong or see if you can get a hole-in-one on the windmill? Me, that’s who.
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