What the Chapultepec Fair looked like 50 years ago

For many years the Chapultepec Fair was a favorite place for young and old, there you could find all kinds of recreational activities, from mechanical games to costume contests and themed festivals. For this reason, for more than 50 years it was crowned as one of the most popular amusement parks and was featured in the list of the most visited in the City.

Although it was often compared to Six Flags, this corner never stopped welcoming thousands of tourists and Chilangos who were looking to de-stress and have a good time with their loved ones. The history of this fair began in the mid-twentieth century, when the current president, Adolfo López Mateos, was responsible for managing the project alongside the official Ernesto Uruchurtu.

It was financed by the then Federal District (now Mexico City), which made an investment of 162 million pesos. Once the construction work was completed, López Mateos opened it on October 24, 1964.

The work was listed as one of the first amusement parks in the country, although it should be noted that at first the original name was the Chapultepec Mechanical Games.

It opened to the public with a total of 14 rides and the Roller Coaster caused the most commotion. It was an impressive structure made by the American company International Amusement Devices, Inc. , the design was in charge of Aurel Vaszin and Edward Leis. Thanks to its wood processing, it stood out among the others in the world, as it was very rare for this type of work to be done with this material.

The main reason for the construction of this amusement center was due to the plans to remodel the second section of the Chapultepec Forest, since to give the capital a new touch it was decided to create a place for people to have fun. In addition, large buildings were built such as the Museums of Anthropology and History, Natural History and Modern Art, which are very important cultural centers in the territory that today continue to adorn the landscape of western Mexico City.

The inauguration of the establishment brought other benefits to the site, since the modernization work improved basic services such as street lighting, pedestrian bridges, streets were paved and a new drinking water system was installed.

On the other hand, for more than 20 years the Fair ran with only a few games, however, in 1993 a tender was granted in which the Chapultepec Business Group committed itself to restructuring the area in just 100 days. One of the benefits of this investment was that it was possible to make an improvement that not only transformed the appearance of the Fair, but also added 43 more attractions so that visitors could enjoy a total of 57.

In the same way, the Roller Coaster was maintained, in this work it was necessary the participation of 239 people, who needed approximately one thousand 80 hours to paint the entire structure. Several litres of paint were also used to complete the task.

The Casona del Terror was also considered in the works, its size was expanded and new stages were added with some special effects to frighten all the brave people who decided to enter. After the innovative adjustments were made, it was reopened under the name “La Feria de Chapultepec”.

Unfortunately, on October 13, 2019, operations at the site came to an end due to a mechanical failure in a game that caused the death of two people and left two injured on September 28 of the same year.

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