Historic Bushkill Park

Historic Bushkill Park is located in Easton, Pennsylvania. It is famous for its being successful and in business for over a century, and having antique rides such as its bumper cars, "The Whip", "The Haunted Pretzel", and "The Barl of Fun." It is a small amusement park, generally geared towards younger audiences. It is home to one of the nations oldest funhouses, the "Barl of Fun" Inside, aside from the rotating barrel (from which the "Barl" gets its name), is a maze-like layout in a dark room with mirrors. In the past, there has been a flashing strobe light in the corner of this room. Past that is the famous barrel, a multi-person 'sit-and-spin' style ride, a wobbly staircase. Upstairs is a hall of mirrors, and a rolling walkway that looks out onto the park. Finally, there is an original antique wooden slide that goes from the second floor to the first. This slide has been featured on the Discovery Channel. cite web |url = http://www.laffinthedark.com/lists/funhouse.htm | title = Funhouse & Walkthrough Attractions | accessdate = 2007-06-29 ]

Flooding

In 2004, Hurricane Ivan struck, and the park suffered a devastating '100-year flood'. This flood completely destroyed the Haunted Pretzel and a miniature golf course, while inflicting major damage on the park's bumper cars, and it's "Whip" ride. It has been hit by 3 floods since, and did not open at all in 2005. The park remains in a flood zone, being nearly surrounded by the Bushkill Creek.

2006 Season and Beyond

In 2005, Walt Reiss and Frank Glover leased the park from owners Sammy Baurkot and Neal Fehnel, and began the arduous process of fixing the park. With the help of volunteers and staff, they were able to get the park cleaned up, and opened in the summer of 2006. The park opened, though "The Haunted Pretzel" was never rebuilt and the Bumper Cars and "The Whip" never re-opened. During the 2006 season, the park saw a modest number of visitors, but enough to keep it running. Since then, the park has gone into debt, and there is word of possible litigation between Reiss and Fehnel. cite web |url = http://www.gadv.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t11227.html | title = Park Said To Be Up A Creek, Attraction on the Bushkill having money and legal troubles. | accessdate = 2007-06-29 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.bushkillpark.org Bushkill Park "Official" Home Page] - Reiss
* [http://www.bushkillpark.com Bushkill Park "Official" Home Page] - Fehnel
* [http://www.topix.com/forum/source/the-morning-call/TRH0E3B8HS9VD38ME] - Contentious forum posts with Reiss and Fehnel