It was a nice park. A very nice park. But it was south of Disney, out of the tourist flow. HBJ ran into a financial wall, junk bonds died, and they sold their parks to Busch Entertainment, who already owned a nice amusement park only about an hour's drive south on I-4: Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay.

On the afternoon of January 17, 1990, with no warning and with patrons still in the park, Busch pulled the plug. Claiming that it had never made a profit, they closed it down. Boardwalk and Baseball, a.k.a. Circus World, was dead.

Every so often the rumor would arise that Six Flags had bought the property with plans for a new park, but this was only wishful thinking. They didn't. The only things left for years were the stadium (sitting so far back it didn't even seem to be a part of the old park), left empty after the Kansas City Royals contract expired, and the very first building, the one that once housed the IMAX theater -- the tent. It was left a featureless gray blob, the canvas and the tent poles gone.

Behind that building, where there had once been a park and the sound of laughter, was now an empty field.

Update 2003: they have demolished the Imax theatre building and the land will be transformed into the Posner Park development of condos, hotels, retail space, and offices. The circus has moved on.

To Circus World