26-05-2025
How local students are preserving memory of Idora Park
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – For decades, Idora Park was more than an amusement park — it was the heartbeat of Youngstown. And long before arenas and stadiums, its ballroom was the stage that mattered.
'This was the place you wanted to be. If you made it to that stage, you made it in this town,' said Ray Timlin.
Timlin is the producer of 'When Idora Rocked,' a documentary featuring the beloved ballroom. The park caught fire on April 26, 1984, destroying many of the attractions, and the park closed after that.
The documentary, produced by Thomas Gregory, a media instructor at Choffin Career Center, is already on YouTube, but to be picked up by PBS, they needed to expand the original from 44 minutes to 56 minutes.
That's where students stepped in.
'Our first version had no interior shots of the ballroom. Up to that point, we didn't think anything even existed,' said Gregory.
Using decades-old photos and rare footage found online, students recreated a 3D model of Idora's historic ballroom.
'When people see this and conjure up their memories from 40 or 50 years ago, this is what it looked like,' Timlin said.
The now-lost park lives on through the voices and memories of those who knew it best, and for the students who helped recreate a piece of history, it's a project that connected generations.
'From the photographs that we had, which were horrible quality, for students to pull off something like this is amazing,' Gregory said.
The updated version of 'When Idora Rocked' will be finalized over the summer, preserving the memories of Youngstown's treasured park for generations to come.
Idora Park may be long gone, but thanks to technology, storytelling and some local passion, it is rocking once again.
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