I can share in your pain...I grew up a block away from Whalom Park, which has been abandoned for several years and torn down a year ago. It started out as an animal preserve in the late 1800's and evolved into an amusement park which drew people from all over New England. My Mom kept us out of the park area except for one or two visits, but my playground was the lake for swimming, and in my teens I ushered at the summerstock playhouse where I saw some fantastic plays and musicals and met the stars. Then the playhouse burned down and was never replaced. And the larger amusement parks began to become prevalent. Company picnics were held elsewhere, and so began the decline. But that place had a lot of history behind it, it's demolishment was the source of many arguments.
A link to some pics...when I was young, it was more like the bottom pics.
http://www.angelfire.com/nh/whalom/whalomhistory.html