Playland delighted Fresno families for 70 years. Take a look at ‘local treasure’
For more than 70 years, Playland has been a popular spot for Fresno County families.
The amusement park in Roeding Park, 890 West Belmont Avenue in Fresno, has served as a place for children and their families to celebrate birthdays and go on rides.
Despite hosting some of local children’s happiest memories, Playland has temporarily closed its doors at least three times over the decades and changed leadership repeatedly.
In March, the Storyland/Playland board of directors announced that Playland would be pausing operations once more.
The move was meant to allow Colton company Helm and Sons Amusement to wind down operations and move its rides off the property near Fresno Chaffee Zoo in northeast Fresno, board member Susan Anderson told The Fresno Bee in April.
“We have a committee that is looking at the options,” she said. “I’m very optimistic.”
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Community members responded to news of Playland’s temporary closure with sorrow, with Fresno State history professor Patrick Fontes sharing pictures of his childhood adventures at Playland on his Facebook page.
“Like so many in our community, I have my own fond memories of Playland,” Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said in a March 10 statement. “It was more than just an amusement park. It was a special part of Fresno’s history, woven into the experiences of countless families.”
Facebook user Julie Davidian Watson called the news “so sad.”
“I spent many happy days in my youth there,” Watson wrote in a March 11 post on Facebook. “When I had kids, I took them there and they loved it and we made many more happy memories! They are not going to be happy when I tell them.”
“We’ve taken our grandkids there over the years,” another Facebook user, Jan Brown, wrote, leading to “lots of memories.” “I hate to see it close.”
How did Playland become one of Fresno’s most beloved parks? And what happened to it?
What is Playland in Fresno?
The property that eventually became known as Playland began life in May 30, 1955
Considered a precursor to Disneyland in Anaheim, Playland sold 14,000 ride tickets on its first day alone, The Bee reported in 2023, helping to establish Roeding Park as a “entertainment destination” in Fresno.
Playland opened with six rides, including a train, merry-go-round, roller coaster and a Ferris wheel, The Bee reported in 1968.
The park offered a local, budget-friendly alternative for “people weren’t going to be able to afford to go to Disneyland,” said Fresno Chamber of Commerce president Scott Miller, who served as a Playland/Storyland board member in 2014. “The kids around Fresno deserved something like that, too.“
Miller noted that there were similar amusement parks in Oakland and Sacramento that started around the same time.
One of the things that made Playland special was the Willis B. Kyle Express Train. It’s named after long-time Fresno resident Willis B. Kyle, a railroad industry innovator according to Storyland’s website.
The train connects Playland to its sister amusement park, Storyland.
Storyland, which opened in 1962, features play areas inspired by classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales, including a castle and a pirate ship. The Storyland/Playland board oversees the management of the two parks.
Bruce Batti, vice president of the Storyland/Playland board, said he went to Playland as child, visited the park multiple times with his own kids and even had the honor of driving the train in 2014.
“I think that’s when I really understood the importance of the parks,” Batti said, “watching families and their kids interacting when they got on that train. ... It really is just like a magical experience, just to see those smiles.”
Community members share memories of Fresno amusement park
Anderson said she and her daughter “used to go all the time” to Playland.
“She loved it,” Anderson said. “It was just so fun.”
Fresno Historical Society president Elizabeth Laval has fond memories of visiting Playland with her grandmother.
“My grandmother took me as a treat break from my newborn baby brother,” Laval said. “Even after living away for decades, when I returned (to Fresno), one of the first places I took my children regularly was Playland.”
“We went so often, we knew the names of the ride operators!” Laval told The Bee. “Speaking for myself and for the community, I truly hope this local treasure can be reopened soon so millions more memories can be made.”
Miller recalled watching a child at Playland as he was driving a tractor with a big dinosaur dangling from the front.
“Seeing that kid, seeing his eyes light up, and seeing how happy that moment made him really kind of re-energized me to get through that project,” Miller said,
Miller described Playland as “a legitimate community resource.”
The amusement park has had the “same mission for its whole history,” he said, “to provide family activities for a lot of kids who might not otherwise have access to that kind of entertainment.”
Anderson called Playland one of the few kid-friendly entertainment options in Fresno, adding, “There’s not that many things for kids to do year-round in Fresno.”
“There’s multiple generations of people who have enjoyed those parks,” she said of Playland and Storyland. “People had their birthday parties there. They have just such great memories there. So we really want to try to keep it going.”
When did Roeding Park attraction start struggling?
By the 2000s, Playland was struggling it was neglected and worn out, the rides had also stopped working. The amusement park was down to just three of them, leaving it a “mere relic” of its former self, the Bee reported in 2001.
In a letter to the editor, Fresno Bee reader Don Lovell asked “what has happened to our community that allow our treasures to slip away that we allow our history and our heritage to decay?”
Lovell’s “heartfelt desire to save a part of Fresno’s past ... struck a chord” with community members, who began working to raise $225,000 needed to refurbish Playland, The Bee’s editorial staff wrote in April 2001.
“The message is loud and clear that no one wants this place to disappear,” Playland executive director Samuel Shima told The Bee in 2001.
The park expected to receive $150,000 in state funds to aid its revival, The Bee reported at the time.
When did Playland close? Why?
Despite those fundraising efforts, Playland and sister park Storyland temporarily closed for the first time in March 2015 “due to a lack of revenue,” The Bee reported at the time.
Although Storyland reopened that September, Playland didn’t open its doors again until the spring of 2016.
When Playland reopened, “We had a line literally out the gate and down all the way to the zoo people to get in,” Anderson said. “They were so happy that we reopened.”
It wasn’t the final time Playland and Storyland would pause operations.
Both amusement parks temporarily shut down in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although Storyland reopened in 2020, Playland again faced delays — opening in 2023.
“There were rides that broke down and in need of fixing and state certifications that had to be met,” Batti said. “All those financial constraints ... like upkeep and maintenance, it was a heavy lift for just a one-off park in the middle of the Central Valley.”
That’s when the Storyland/Playland board began looking for “someone to take over operations and infuse some needed money and expertise into the park,” he said.
Carnival ride company takes over amusement park operations
Helm and Sons Amusement, which took over operations at Playland in 2023, specializes in providing carnival rides and attractions for events across California, including the California Mid-State Fair and Tulare County Fair.
Helm and Sons brought in new rides including a 85-foot gondola Ferris wheel — one of five owned by the San Bernandino County-based business.
The company also brought in a 110-foot-long slide, a white-walled Ice Maze, an assortment of carnival games and an 18-hole miniature golf course that’s based on Pebble Beach.
In addition, Helm and Sons worked to repair Playland’s original carousel and update its iconic dragon roller coaster, company CEO Davey Helm told The Bee in October 2023.
Meanwhile, Playland lowered prices, adjusted hours and offered specials and other events, including community days when admission dropped to $1, The Bee reported in 2023, drawing in thousands of attendees.
Is Playland permanently closed?
As of Thursday, May 8, the website for Playland said the amusement park was “permanently closed” and redirected visitors to the Storyland Fresno website.
However, that doesn’t mean the park has shut its doors for good, according to Anderson.
“At this point we are still looking for the right way to reopen it,” she told The Bee on April 30.
“We don’t want to keep it closed any more than we have to,” Anderson told The Bee on April 1, “but we do need somebody who has the carnival right experience.”
She said the Storyland/Playland board was reaching out to an “amusement park company” to operate Playland. “
“It’s a little bit different than a carnival company” like Helm and Sons, Anderson said, although she didn’t identify the business by name.
The board is also talking to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo about a potential partnership, according to Anderson.
“A lot of people have put a lot of sweat, blood, sweat and tears into that place to keep it awake, keep it going,” Anderson said, adding that the board is dedicated to keeping Playland going.
Batti called Playland an “important part of history,” adding, “It has done so much for so many people.”
“So I’m going to be sad if we aren’t able to resurrect it in some form,” he said. “But I will be content knowing that we gave it a 12 out of 10 effort.”
This story was originally published May 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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