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  *Comments on Playland Park Speedway:*
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  1.   Cooper posted:
  03.27.2010 - 2:58 pm
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The track was located inside an amusement park in Southbend. Playland
Park. The speedway itself was a 1/2 Mile Dirt Oval. The speedway at
Southbend, Indiana was closed at sometime during 1956. In addition to
this speedway, Playland had another amusement park speedway in Houston,
at the time. The lone race was run in 1952 with Tim Flock taking the win.


  2.   A posted:
  07.09.2020 - 11:30 am
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Track was right on the river. It had a baseball diamond in the infield.
Can be seen quite clearly on early historic aerials, including 1952.

Search "River Crossing Campus Apartments" at Indiana University South
Bend, and you'll see what basically covers the track area on the south
side of the St. Joseph River.

On the aerial views it looks like after the amusement park closed, most
of the track was turned into a golf course. However, incredibly, it
appears that a portion of the bleachers were left and used for perhaps a
football or soccer field, and those ancient bleachers are STILL there!
Search 1735 Titan Drive, South Bend, IN, and you will see these concrete
bleachers. Stuff like that just blows my mind!

There's also a bike trail that follows somewhat closely along the river
where the backstretch was.


  3.   RaceFanX posted:
  07.09.2020 - 12:08 pm
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The amusement park originated as a small trolley park in 1880 and grew
through the years, gaining the name Playland Park in 1924. Its biggest
highlight was a roller coaster called "Jack Rabbit." The baseball
diamond at the track was the home field of the South Bend Blue Sox
women's professional baseball team from the All-American Girls
Professional Baseball League (immortalized in "A League of Their Own").
The park closed in 1961 and was replaced with a golf course, which
closed four decades later. Today the site is housing for Indiana
University South Bend on the other side of the river except for those
bleachers that @2 mentioned.


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