This was one of the most popular Amusement parks back in 1904 to 1967. What do you think it would be like if it was still up now?

Actually my parents said it was supposed to be awesome. but there really wasnt that many amusement parks around either. But it would be cool if that was still here. Chicago would get a lot more tourists.

Riverview was probably one of the best amusement parks ever in existance. How could they have demolished a park that had about a dozen wooden roller coasters in operation??

I bet if the park had survived until the mid-70s Marriott's would have grabbed the Bobs.

From Coasterbuzz's Roller Coaster Rollback:
8/28/1990 - A tornado tore through Plainfield, Illinois, destroying the auditorium building from the defunct Electric Park. It was the last remaining building from the park, and was being restored. Also lost was the last surviving Chutes boat from Chicago's Riverview Park; it had been stored at the Electric Park site.

lol most likely

I was 7 when Riverview Closed I still have the images of the parks demolition fresh in my mind. If you go to Kennywood which did share Things with Riverview you get a good idea how the park would look. Bigger Question is would Marriott or at the time KECO still considered Great America for Huntley or Kings Dominion for Aurora with Riverview in Chicago. As it turns out Gurnee and Doswell VA became home to these parks. One can only guess how anyone could go up against 10 Wooden Coasters? Alas we never will find out but it's something to ponder.

From what I've heard about this park, it was huge and had a lot of rides. If it survived those land battles in the 60's to today, then we might have seen a park on the scale of Cedar Point. It would be hard to tell who would actually own it; whether it would remain independent or a larger chain would have bought it.

The land there became far too valuable to remain viable as an amusement park. You had some government influences too. They purchased a major chunk of the land at inflated prices. I don't think it would survive in this day and age. The parking would be a nightmare, the various governing agencies in the city would be a constant nuisance. It wasn't very large and just like anything else outdoors in Illinois it was seasonal. Nothing's worse than year round overhead and part time income. Whether you're an individual or a business. That's why I never understood SFGA's reluctance to put in some winter attractions (ski hills, sledding, ice skating, hockey rinks, retail and convention/hotel stuff, indoor waterpark, etc.) I would hate to go through the hiring and screening process anew every year.

I know the land became more valuable than the park, but it seems like it's been wasted now. All you have are WGN and a Devry sitting on a small portion of the land (last I checked) and the rest is either undeveloped or a park. That's so much better than what was there.

In my first post in this thread, I may have overstated what the park would be today if it survived. It probably would have outgrown it's spot and become very limited in new rides. While it wouldn't be as big as SFGAm, it would still likely have a large selection of coasters and other rides and still be an amazing park.

I agree that it would have been a cool place.
WGN is actually across the street ( I do set work for them) and was there already when Riverview existed as was my High School, Lane Tech.
Devry University, and the 19th District Police Station and Circuit Court and a retirement facility now occupy the land that Riverview was on. There is still a service road for the park off Addison Street that goes off into the woods.
And (This might be of interest to JonRev who explores abandoned places) I am told that if you dig around in that forest area you can still find tokens, and other memorabilia from Riverview.
Some of those rides they had like the parachutes wouldn't have been sanctioned by any safety authority nowadays. Too bad. I have been told it was quite the ride!

My grandparents dated there, shame that had to close. Did a report on it a few years back.

My grandparents lived a few blocks away and bailed out when the neighborhood began to go downhill. They, and my aunt, used to go there frequently.

I believe they built a Jewel Osco on the Riverview site as well. One of the park's midways is still somewhat intact, with the foundations for the Shoot the Chutes still there. This year I'll drive down there and see what's left.

That would be an awesome picture review like the mall you explored a few months back.
I have heard many people claim to have found game tokens and other bric-a-brac under the dirt back there. Kids at Lane used to go back there at lunch time to explore the area. I never went off campus at lunch except maybe once or twice to go to Hero's Sub Shop.
I believe you are correct. The Jewel Osco, Toys R Us complex occupies that land as well.
Oddly enough, that neighborhood is beginning to come back to a higher end residential area. And there's a strip of higher end antique shops that attract a pretty good crowd on Belmont just east of Western/Clybourn.

So I went digging through my grandparents 78's tonight, which were wrapped in newspapers from 1956-57. Check out one of the ads I found...

^ Damn. That's a good ad from Riverview.

It was a better time on some fronts, but really the young people of today have a much better environment and a lot more entertainment options as well as the disposable income for those endeavors.
When Riverview was still open (1960's) most people made about $60.00 a week. When you consider the prices of rides at between two cents and fifteen cents each it is the equivalent of SFGA admission tickets being $175 per day.
You could have easily spent more than a day's wages and probably closer to two days wages to bring your family there for the day.
So as nostalgic as that era seems, the youth of today have an incredible lifestyle by comparison. Kids then could only have dreamed of a "season pass" to an amusement park.

Below is a link to a cool yet creepy Riverview site. Make sure you have audio so you can hear the calliope music.

http://riverviewpublications.com/