Where Are the Rides Now? Tracking Down Fun Junction’s Roller Coaster, Yo-Yo, and Rotor
Say "Fun Junction" to anybody who grew up in the Grand Valley before 2000, and half of them start humming the jingle.
Everybody knows it closed. Fewer people know how it started, why it really shut down, or where the rides ended up.
It Started With Mini Golf and Red Dirt
In 1954, Bob Guyton opened a mini golf course called the Sands, named for the red dirt covering each hole.
In 1962, he and his wife Maebeth bought the Lions Club kiddie rides from Lincoln Park, and by the 70s they were adding rides for the big kids, according to Westword's 1999 story on the park.
Fun fact: Maebeth trained as an opera singer, with graduate work at Juilliard, and taught music at Mesa State. She didn't sing the famous jingle, though. That was recorded at Thunder Productions on North Avenue.
The Tilt-A-Whirl Had a Film Career
Bob spent a whole winter fixing up a Tilt-A-Whirl that came from the Dallas fairgrounds, and its sign bragged that it appeared in the 1962 movie State Fair with Ann-Margret and Pat Boone. Not every small-town ride can say it worked with Pat Boone.
Add the Rotor, the Rock-O-Plane, bumper boats, and a Ferris wheel tall enough to catch the movie playing next door at the Chief Drive-In, all for a 50-cent cover.
It was the biggest park between Denver and Salt Lake City.
Why It Really Closed
It wasn't money. Bob was nearly 75, they were working 14-hour days, and they lived on the property all summer.
In 1994, they offered the park to the city, which passed. Nobody wanted to buy it and keep it running, either.
The rides shut down for good on September 6, 1999.
So Where Did the Rides Go?
They were sold off one at a time.
The coaster went to a Six Flags park in Oklahoma City, the Yo-Yo went to San Francisco, and the Rotor went to Ohio. Somebody out there is getting dizzy on a Grand Junction original and has no idea.
The family's story had one more rough chapter.
A 2005 message from their website says a sewage flood from a grease plug in the North Avenue main line cost them their home and business. Bob passed away in July 2013.
Read More: Remembering King World: The History Behind Moab’s Forgotten Water Park
What's There Now
The old spot at 28 3/4 Road and North Avenue is now a Del Taco and a liquor store.
Make your own joke. But when we asked which local business people would bring back, Fun Junction won by a mile.
The Western Slope still doesn't have anything like it.
So what was your ride?
Do You Remember These Iconic Grand Junction Spots Everyone Wants Back?
Gallery Credit: Tim Gray
