Pripyat Amusement Park - Ferris Wheel

Active Years: 1986 - 1986

Reason for Closure: Chernobyl Disaster

The Pripyat Amusement Park was built to celebrate May Day in 1986, meant to entertain the nearly 50,000 residents living in Pripyat, Ukraine at the time. However, it never opened. On Saturday, April 26, 1986, a catastrophic explosion occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant's Reactor No. 4. The explosions released radioactive materials into the atmosphere, resulting in what is seen as the worst accident in the history of nuclear power. The entire town of Pripyat (population 49,360), three kilometers from the plant, was completely evacuated.