It was a fire that closed Idora Park in 1984.

YOUNGSTOWN -- Fire destroyed the Idora Park Ballroom, a Youngstown landmark, this morning. The building was engulfed when firefighters arrived around 10 a.m. Smoke blanketed the South Side neighborhood.

Opening day: The ballroom opened June 20, 1910, as the "dance pavilion," 16 years after the park itself opened in 1894. Idora Park closed in 1984, ironically after a fire. In that blaze, the famous Wildcat roller coaster burned. In April 2000, burn marks found in and around the ballroom sparked more legal action against the owner. Mike Damiano, city demolition director, wrote two tickets citing the park owner, Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church. The property wasn't secured and the ballroom wasn't boarded up properly, he said. He inspected the old amusement park after police discovered signs of open burning inside and outside the ballroom. Officers responded March 28 to neighborhood complaints about vagrants in the building.

Ongoing battle: Every time the fence is fixed or the ballroom is boarded up, somebody breaks in again, Matthew Blair, the

lawyer representing the Oak Hill Avenue church, said at the time. The church fixes the problems within hours of being notified, he said. Efforts have been under way to preserve the memory of Idora Park through traveling displays and, eventually, a permanent museum at Conneaut Lake Park.