A former cement factory was going to become a children's amusement park project called Cementland - before the owner was crushed to death by a bulldozer.
Sculptor Bob Cassilly had the idea for Cementland, which was a 4-acre attraction that was once a thriving factory outside of St. Louis, Missouri but when the factory closed down, the area became a dumping ground for construction companies.
The theme park was herald as one of the "strangest theme parks in America" for its niche theme and troubles over the years, the Daily Star reports.
The original cement buildings had been neglected and decaying- but Cassilly had a vision to spruce up the landscape to a wide range of different ideas.
Mr Cassilly had a vision which ran more than just cement and ruins as he saw an idea for art and history, architecture, and evolution.
Bob said back in 2000: “They talk about historic districts and stuff like that but one of the main things is, our architecture is basically copying stuff from Europe.
"But our industry, it’s kind of like jazz, it’s an American, original thing.
"Why not look at it for what it is? It’s impressive. It might be threatening, but you can’t help but be impressed by it.”
The attraction has been photographed by Paul Sableman, where you can see glimpses of Mr Cassilly's vision for the amusement park were slowly taking place.
His dream was to create an art amusements park but it never got off the ground after a horrifying incident where Cassilly was tragically run down by a bulldozer and killed on the building site of Cementland on September 26, 2011.
He was 61 years old.
However, his widow and several medical experts didn’t believe that Bob’s cause of death was a bulldozer accident.
In 2016, physician Dr Arthur Combs reexamined the autopsy reports and said he believes the sculptor was beaten to death before the murder scene was staged to look like an accident.
Over the last six years, the ruins have fallen into further disrepair after a warehouse fire caused a roof to fall in.
There was an attempt to put security in who were hired to keep vandals and trespassers away in 2017 but in 2022 there is no evidence that this arrangement remains in place, according to the latest photographs.
And over the last last six years, the land has been neglected after a warehouse fire caused a roof to fall in.
In order to honour Cassilly’s life, memorials have been held at Cementland but the attraction remains incomplete.
