Not many theme parks can boast a visit from Elvis Presley, a dancing chicken, and a performance by Ella Fitzgerald. But that all happened at Riverview Amusement Park on Des Moines' northeast side—or so legend has it. Whether rumors of the King's midnight visit are true or not, one thing's for sure: What is now nothing more than a vast empty space with a couple concrete footings was once Des Moines' most popular theme park.

Bill Kooker, 58, served as general manager of Riverview Park from 1972 until the it’s final season in 1978. His grandfather was one of the park's founding fathers when it opened in 1915.

Today, Kooker works at a resort hotel in Newport, Oregon. He created a website, www.riverviewparkdsm.com, that includes pictures, film clips, and stories for people to reminisce about the popular Des Moines destination. “I want to keep the memory alive,” Kooker says. “It’s just a matter of time when people who actually experienced the park die off.”

Bill said the park's location on an island made it distinct. With new attractions being added every year, it seemed to have a life of its own—a life that was familiar to the Kooker family. Bill’s father became manager of the park after World War II. Bill began working there, picking up pop bottles, at the age of nine. “It gets in your blood,” Bill says of working at the park. “I also have great family memories of us all working there.”

These memories roll by like a great movie in Kooker’s head. He still clearly remembers the Riverview Park Fourth of July celebration when over 10,000 people turned out to watch the best fireworks show in town. It was the only show to keep fireworks in the air at all times and also the first to incorporate live music into the show.

After almost 60 years of family fun, Riverview Park began to show its age. Traditional family-run amusement parks died off all across the country as commercial theme parks came into town, offering the latest high-tech thrill rides. Riverview was no exception.

Adventureland, a brand new theme park in Altoona, opened in 1973. Attendance at Riverview dropped significantly after Adventureland came to town. With great persistence, Riverview didn’t shut down.

The park managed to slightly increase attendance after making a major investment in new rides. But it wasn't enough, and the park was failing to make a profit. Riverview’s long ride finally came to an end in 1978. Adventureland made an agreement with the park to purchase the land and all of its rides, vowing to keep Riverview open as a less-expensive alternative to their more costly family destination.

Adventureland never kept its promise. Within hours of the deal between the parks, the new owners padlocked the gates and placed guards outside the park, making sure no one could enter. Bill Kooker was shocked. Riverview was going to be demolished. The vibrant life of the park would be no more than a bittersweet memory.

Not knowing what to do with the extra space, Adventureland sold the Riverview land to the City of Des Moines for one dollar in the late 1980s. It essentially became a dumping ground according to Kooker. “It made me so sick, I swore I’d never go back,” he says.

Today, the local Kiwanis Club owns Riverview Island. The large, empty space was used as a public park until the recent floods; now it looks more like a wasteland. It's hard to believe it was once a place of thrills and enjoyment for families of many generations. Only a few clues remain: A winding concrete path that was once the Shoot the Chutes water rides winds through trees and brush that have overgrown it; a flagpole sits atop a cement  base that was once the center hub of a ride built in 1927 called the Tumblebug.

Even these last remains of the park will be gone in less than a year, according to Kooker. A new levy is scheduled to be built through the center of the park in about six months, taking out every last piece of physical evidence that a bustling amusement park once sat in its place. Soon, the legends will be the only thing left.

> See Riverview in Google Maps