Welcome To Screamscape!

Park News - (8/31/07) The local news is digging more into a possible conspiracy of why Bell’s was kicked out of their Tulsa Fairgrounds home, pointing out just who is the most likely to profit from their now vacant spot. It really points out a few good points to make you think there may be a smoking gun behind all this after all.
  (8/21/07) There is talk in Tulsa about revealing the true information used to make the decision about why Bell’s Amusement Park was not given the option to renew their lease, a decision that 70% of locals were opposed to in a poll taken by the local news, and 24% said would affect their choice of weather or not to even visit the Tulsa State Fair. The County Commissioner wants this to happen and thinks the public will better understand the choice after they see Bell’s business plan. Meanwhile Robby Bell says that a release of the information would be a breach of confidentiality, “They made a decision, now they have to live with it.” Adding that their decision has cost the park $5 million in items that they had to leave behind.
  (8/10/07) Today we’ve got a link to a new article about the demolition of Phantasmagoria at Bell’s Amusement Park, complete with a ton of photos and material dating from the ride’s early days up to the point of demolition.
  (6/26/07) Bell’s tried as best as they could to meet the deadline set to have their stuff removed from the fairgrounds, but in the end an estimated $5 million in equipment had to be left behind which has now become the property of the fairgrounds. Robbie Bell Sr. stated to the media that we’ll hear from the Bell family again soon as they move forward with plans to open an all new park.
  (6/4/07) A local reader went by Bells on Sunday to see how things were progressing. So far the only parts of Zingo left standing are the second large hill and part of the turn around. The rest is all laying in pieces around the parking lot. They are in a rush to attempt to meet the June 15th deadline to remove all of their property from the site and at this point it’s going to be a tight squeeze and are worried that the fairgrounds may not want to make another extension to let them finish their work. We’ve also heard that an announcement about a new location for Bells could happen sometime in June or July if all goes well. While I have no insight at all about where it may go yet, we’ve heard that the short list of rumored locations at this point include “a spot east of Claremore, OK (near the Will Rogers Downs race track), Jenks, and Sand Springs.”
  (2/28/07) The local news had some good news to report today, the Zingo will be saved and moved to a new location. Currently most of the smaller rides have already been removed and they hope to start the 12 week process to take Zingo apart, and claim once they have a new home it will take 5 months to rebuild. The currently deadline to get everything out however is March 8th, but they’re asking for an extension to complete their work.
  In other news, fans of Phantasmagoria were granted a tour of the famous dark ride before it was demolished for good. There is a great article to read all about the history of the ride, the various props as well as a ton of photographs to truly document what went on inside Phantasmagoria for the history books. Enjoy and Rest In Piece.
  (1/29/07) The demolition of Bell’s has already begun according to a local news report, with many rides going into storage until Bell’s can secure a new home. The report mentions the Scrambler and Merry-Go-Round in pieces but the major item of note is Phantasmagoria, a unique custom two story dark ride that was seven minutes long. When the reported asked about the fate of Phantasmagoria Bob Bell confirmed that it would not be coming back. You can find a great report and a ton of pictures from the ride at Laff In The Dark and a cute little animated ride-through at Secret Fun Spot.
  (1/15/07) While neither Bell’s or the Expo had any updates about the request to extend the 120 days that Bell’s has to remove their property from the site, Bell’s did confirm that “We’re making our preparations to move and attempting to find a new location.” So far they are known to have been in discussion with Bixby, Broken Arrow, Sand Springs, Owasso and Tulsa in the quest to find a new home. In the meantime the Fairgrounds will decide soon if they want to purchase the Sky Ride from Bell’s to keep for themselves for future events.
  (11/10/06) In a shocking move the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority has decided not to renew Bell’s lease citing reasons that claimed the park was not financially stable. Robby Bell answered these claims saying that they were just not true and their financial status has been misrepresented. He stated that they did ask for a reduction in their rent in 2005 after the park lost money during in 2003 and 2004 Tulsa State Fairs when the authority decided to place an RV park in a parking lot near the park greatly reducing the foot traffic to the park. He claims they lost $400,000 during those fairs and that any financial problems they’ve had has been caused by the fair board. The park is profitable and he even proposed a return to the higher rent rate in his lease renewal proposal. The fair board claims it’s in the best interest of the tax payers to not renew the park and yet Bell’s is the “No. 1 long-term tenant as far as revenue.” Meanwhile they plan now is to have the park removed and turned into a parking lot which wont make anywhere near the money for them that Bell’s did and the whole situation just makes no sense. In a new era where we seem to be losing quite a few of our smaller classic amusement parks, Bell’s may end up being just another victim in a political situation that is out of their control. Bell’s has been informed that they have 120 days to remove all items from the property.