Boyle’s Joyland at 2901 S.E. Adams has recently been acquired by the owners of the Owl’s Nest Antique Mall. The building will function as their second location and the owners, Lyndsay and T.K. Adams, are clearing up the place. Having purchased everything including the room of kitchen sinks in the back, the decision was a huge undertaking that called for a week long liquidation. It sounds like a nightmare, and T.K. admits, “There were nights I didn’t sleep.” The sale will end when everything is gone, and items that were previously too priceless to give away are now up for grabs. As the unique and extensive inventory of Boyle’s is seeing its final days, I found myself wondering how much of the culture will soon perish as well.

At your feet lies a box with a heterogenous mixture of rusty Allen wrenches and Phillips-head screwdrivers. You turn to look at the shelf on your right and you see another box of assorted knobs for your oven and next to that–a cute porcelain dog.

While the Boyles Joyland amusement park closed down more than a decade ago, the glee of walking through the doors of the family-owned business had remained–along with all the memorabilia. Since it was turned into a flea market, Boyles had been operating as a one-stop-shop for all of the community’s various needs. The Joyland was also a place where the carpet on the floor was never the same in one spot. Rumors of the original owner being a hoarder have filled the aura of the building, the “NOT FOR SALE” taxidermy and model airplanes appearing in every Topekan’s fantasy. It could have been a haunted house, but there was never a shortage of amusement inside our city’s very own. For those that carried the flea market near to their hearts, this change in ownership could be a bit heartbreaking.