PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Painters with Kyle’s Pittsburg Painting worked to cover every corner and crevice of the framework of the Kiddieland roller coaster with bright blue paint, Wednesday, as the date for the opening of the historic park nears. They said they expected to be done by Friday, a week ahead of the opening day on May 22.
City staff and a group of “Friends of Kiddieland,” a small subset of Pittsburg Beautiful, have worked especially hard this spring to have Kiddieland looking its best on this special celebration year for the city and the country.
Nancy Scott, with Pittsburg Beautiful, said the organization initially became involved with Kiddieland casually.
“We cleaned it up one year and the next year we were doing a little planting and here comes Toby Book (former Parks and Rec director who died in 2025),” Scott said. “Toby said, ‘one of the things that was near and dear to my heart was that my mother was head of the Friends of the Gage Park Zoo in Topeka. I kinda wish we had something like that here.’”
Scott said that statement “got the wheels turning” for her and fellow Pittsburg Beautiful member Stephanie Watts.
Scott said Watts had already helped with some Kiddieland improvements. Dissatisfied with the look of the chain link fence that surrounded the rides, Watts previously found a donor who was willing to fund the purchase of materials for a new black metal fence, which the city installed.
“About that same time,” Scott said, “we noticed that the star in the middle of Kiddieland was surrounded by tree limbs, was not lit and it was just forgotten. It had been a center for Kiddieland from 1953. Toby improved the star. He made many of us very happy because he painted it, they wired it, so it now lights up and it’s a beautiful centerpiece for that park.”
In early April, the Friends of Kiddieland met with Kris Loy, the new Parks and Rec director and came up with a list of things they would like to see done at the park. At the top was sandblasting and painting on the rollercoaster structure and the metal skirting on another ride. A company was found that could do the work, but they couldn’t get to it until fall.
“Stephanie and I felt that was unacceptable because we’re celebrating this year,” Scott said. “We have a lot of families who come to Kiddieland. Toby had shared with us that the highest attended day at Kiddieland was last Fourth of July and he was just overwhelmed with the numbers. We knew that those numbers would continue and we wanted it to look better.”
Almost by chance, a mobile sandblaster doing work in SEK was found who was ready to go to work the next day.
“The scramble then became how are we going to come up with $12,500 by Monday,” Scott said.
Again, a donor stepped up to cover the sandblasting and painting, ensuring that when it opens on May 22, Kiddieland will look as bright and cheerful as possible as Pittsburg celebrates 150 years.
Scott and Watts, “our little Friends of Kiddieland,” hope to expand their group, “not only for donors, but for people who care.” They say there is more to do in the park and their initial list is far from finished.
In fact, Scott said, they’ve already talked to Girard Tarps about what it would take to replace the cover on the airplane ride.
“It just so happens,” Scott said, “they were the ones who made the first one, and they still have the measurements!”
Looking even farther out, they would like to see a “party pad” constructed beside Kiddieland with picnic tables for birthday parties and such.
Scott said persons interested in donating to the ongoing projects may do so by sending a check to Pittsburg Beautiful Inc C/O Jeff Wilbert, 611 N. Catalpa with a notation for Kiddieland.
“We’re also open to hearing from other people and what they would like to see happen at Kiddieland,” Scott said.
