A Final Update in the Story of Bowcraft Amusement Park

© Patch.com

While this comes as no surprise, it looks as though the final remnants of New Jersey's former Bowcraft Amusement Park were recently demolished, adding the final chapter in the story of the park.  While not a large amusement park or one with a hundred years worth of history, it's always sad to see a park go.  The local Patch news site featured video recently of the structures still standing on the site being razed, though all the rides were removed previously.  The park's site will become apartments.

Back in late 2018 the park's inventory of rides and attractions were put up for sale, with the park having operated for the last time that same year.  There was a nice selection of rides available, and hopefully they all found a good home.  I believe the Pirate Ship went to Alabama Adventure as a new for 2019 ride.

© Bing Maps

Bing has an aerial of the park with the rides removed, but the property not yet fully demolished.  You can see just a couple rides still in place, and the outline of where many of them once sat.

© Google Maps

That view can be compared to this one from Google, showing the park before anything was removed.

The fate of Crossbow, the park's family sized Zierer roller coaster, which was a tad bigger then you'd have expected to find at a park of this size, remains unclear.  The ride was listed for sale for $500k when the ride liquidation occurred, but I'm unaware of who picked it up - if anyone.  You can see some on and off ride footage of Crossbow at this link.  Also, if you feel like a trip down memory lane the park's website is oddly still functional, have a click around.

Bowcraft Amusement Park Appears to Have Closed for Good

It looks like it took a couple years longer than expected, but it seems that Bowcraft Amusement Park, located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, has closed for good to be redeveloped into housing.

Back in 2016 the plan popped up to build 190 apartments and 10 town homes on the land that the amusement park occupies, but there hadn't been much development since then.  It seems that the plan was in place even further back, since Bowcraft was trying to sell their signature roller coaster as far back as 2009.

© Rides 4U

Currently, Rides 4U, a well known used ride company, is shopping the park's entire inventory as up for purchase.  There was also a recent vote by the Scotch Plains government to allow the amusement park's site to be redeveloped, though this article says that there is more planning to be done before things are final.  Plus, the park's website and Facebook page have been deleted.  It certainly seems as though with all these things combined, the park is done for good.

Bowcraft's largest ride is a Zierer roller coaster that opened in 2006, named Crossbow.  The family ride is now available for $499k, way down from the $1.7m they started at back in 2009.  Other listed rides include a Musik Express, Scrambler, Galleon, Frog Hopper, Tilt-a-Whirl and more.  Certainly a nice collection for parks looking for some gently used rides.

I'm not sure what the cost would be to relocate a ride like Crossbow, but for only $500k it seems like a good deal.  Perhaps we will see the ride show up at another park in the future.

© Google Maps

2016 To Be Bowcraft Amusement Park's Last?

While not officially announced by the park yet, it seems as though the 2016 season very well may be the last one for New Jersey's Bowcraft Amusement Park.  The family style amusement park isn't the largest in the area, but it's still always sad to see a park close its doors - especially when it's for new apartments!

According to local news, the Scotch Plains Planning Board will be considering next week a plan that would see 190 apartments and 10 townhomes built on the site of the park.  That would imply that the land the park sits on must carry a great value, and also means that when the park closes at the end of this October it will probably be for good.

© Bing

Still, official confirmation should come from Bowcraft soon, though there have been signs of this coming in the past.  The park has had its Zierer designed coaster, Crossbow, listed for sale for a couple years now.  The custom designed ride features a 55 foot tall lift hill, 1,260 feet of track and a top speed of 40 miles per hour.  Other larger rides at the park include a pirate ship, musik express, paratrooper, scrambler and a decent selection of family and children's rides.

The park has also commonly been known as Bowcraft Playland and dates back to 1946 when it operated as an archery/ski equipment store complete with a small ski hill.  It was expanded decades later to include the amusement rides and family entertainment-style fun offered today.

I Want It For My Backyard!

Bowcraft Playland is a very small amusement park located is Scotch Plains, New Jersey, not that far outside New York City. Back in 2006 the park added the Crossbow, a Zierer family roller coaster. You can see that ride in the image above.

The ride looks like a lot of fun! It's 1,200 ft. long and stands 50 ft. tall. For a very small amusement park, the Crossbow is a pretty great addition.

Only, it's for sale. For the past two months I've seen the add for the coaster in Amusement Today and wanted to post about it - it's all rather strange to me. The park's website still talks about the ride at length, and makes no mention of it being closed. Rides4U, the company who placed the for sale add, has a Zierer coaster listed on their website for a cool $1.7 million, and while there are no photos or much details, that's probably the Crossbow.

For any park that needs a nice family ride (BGW anyone?) this could be a steal! There must be more to the story if Bowcraft is already trying to sell it after 4 years, but what that is I just don't know. If anyone hears anything, let me know!