Do you remember the Ozark Barn Swings? Here's what we know about the daredevil attraction

Turning off Highway 65 onto Jackson Spring Road in Ozark, there's not a lot to see — a few residential homes surrounded by open fields appear to be the only landmarks for miles. But before long, drivers will stumble across a littering of yellow school buses tucked away in the tree line, followed by a rustic sign announcing commercial activity.

"Still open!" the faded sign reads, with an arrow indicating the entrance to Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball, just "3/400" of a mile further down the road. The sports park, first opened in 1985, is better known by locals as the one-time home of the Ozark Barn Swings.

The Ozark Barn Swings at 671 Jackson Spring Road in Ozark were a popular destination from the '80s to early 2000s, especially for area church youth groups. A 15,000-square-foot barn housed 13 rope swings, three paintball areas, a boxing area, a climbing wall and a mechanical bull, according to a News-Leader story published on Jan. 4, 2006.

Over the years, videos from inside the Ozark Barn Swings have resurfaced on YouTube, showcasing children and young adults jumping from the barn's hayloft and swinging on long rope swings. Mattresses can be seen on the barn's floor, adding a layer of protective padding. Most ride the swings sitting down, while the brave or foolhardy go "Superman style," on their stomachs.

Are the Ozark Barn Swings still open?

The Ozark Barn Swings, as many may remember them, are no longer around. In January 2006, the barn that housed the swings burned to the ground. It was never rebuilt.

Visiting Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball in 2024, it's hard to tell if the business is still in operation. The park is accessible, but rusty steel beams, lawn chairs with busted cushions, and a littering of tarps, foam padding and debris give it an eerie feel.

The News-Leader contacted Chuck Doennig, owner of the park, several times over the past six months but was unsuccessful in obtaining an interview about the business' history or current state of operation. The business and Doennig are not listed on the Missouri Secretary of State Business Entity Search.

However, photos of a family enjoying the park's paintball were shared to the "Doennig Sport Swings/Hayrides/Bonfires/Paintball" Facebook Page as recently as October 2023.

The park's dated website notes the 2006 fire, indicating that all activities are held outdoors. Activities listed on the website include a bucking bull, a "giant" slide, rock climbing, a "giant" obstacle course, bungee basketball, jousting, "fun cycles," a "whirly bird," hayrides, paintball and bonfires.

Barn Swings provided 'wholesome alternative' for youths

Mark Fugitt, a pastor and author who grew up in Norwood, Missouri, said the first time he visited the Ozark Barn Swings was when he was around 6-7 years old during a youth group fieldtrip.

"I think they had found a niche with the Christian community," Fugitt said of the park. "It was kind of word-of-mouth and became a popular destination. Also at that time, there weren't a lot of other places to take groups from schools and churches. I know growing up in that world — my mom's a teacher, my dad's a pastor ... if you didn't go to Silver Dollar City, you went to the Barn Swings."

With the emphasis on being a family-friendly environment, the park did not sell alcohol, which helped establish it as a "wholesome alternative" for area youths, Fugitt said.

Rebecca Holopter, a filmmaker from Springfield, frequented the Ozark Barn Swings with her family and friends when she was around the fifth grade. Growing up in the Ozarks in the '90s, Holopter said for fun, kids either walked around at the mall, rode bikes, talked on the phone under their beds or went on hayrides at the Barn Swings.

Rough and tumble fun, unfortunate fractures

Not everyone holds fond memories of the Ozark Barn Swings. In 1998, Kathleen O'Dell, a former News-Leader reporter, arrived at the park with her daughter's Girl Scouts troop and left in an ambulance.

It was O'Dell's first time visiting the Barn Swings on May 22, 1998. None of the other troop parents would try out the swings, but O'Dell, who was 44 at the time, thought she'd give it a whirl.

"When you jump off of that platform in the swing, you're supposed to jump off with enough push and speed that you swing around a couple of times and then you land and your feet go back up onto the platform," O'Dell said of the swings. But that's not what happened.

"I don't think I jumped off with enough (force) and I didn't weigh that much, and so I just didn't have enough heft to get the swing around to bring me back up to the platform. I saw myself careening toward the green mats they had around the wall right below the platform. I thought in a split second of course, 'I do not want to run my head or shoulder into it,'" O'Dell recalled. "So stupidly, I stuck my leg out to think that I would just slow myself down. And in that moment I heard probably the most awful sound, which was the crack of my leg bone."

O'Dell had fractured her tibia and fibula, the long bones in the lower leg, and her left ankle, which she said still gives her some trouble.

Unable to get herself back up to the platform, O'Dell lowered herself from the swing onto the floor of mattresses below. O'Dell said the platform she jumped from was probably 13-15 feet from the ground.

"The floor was covered with these filthy, dusty mattresses," O'Dell said. "When you're just hanging around and you're on the swing, you don't think about it, but I laid there for a good 20 minutes on my back, waiting for the ambulance to come."

Explaining what happened to the doctor at the hospital, O'Dell said he didn't express much shock.

"He said, 'Oh yeah, I see people like you at least once a week. It's not unusual. Normally I see broken collarbones, broken arms, occasional broken legs,'" O'Dell recalled.

O'Dell ended up spending two weeks in a wheelchair and another two weeks in a leg brace using crutches.

In addition to paying admission to the park, all attendees were required to sign a release agreement, O'Dell said. The form remains on the park's website.

A section of the form states: "In consideration of the privilege of attending Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball ... Guest unconditionally releases and absolves Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball its owner and staff, and all other patrons from any all liability in connection with any injury or death of Guest, or damage to property, sustained while attending Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball or any of its activities."

Reflecting on his time at the Ozark Barn Swings as a child, Fugitt said it is hard for him to imagine how the business was operational.

"Now looking back, I can't imagine how it existed then," he said. "It was the opposite of polished, whatever that would be."

Nonetheless, the swings drew folks in and won fans.

"It was kind of like going to grandma and grandpa's barn. Around here, a lot of people have that experience. In fact, my parents still have the farm where I grew up and we've got swings in the hayloft there that we put in. Now my kids go and swing in the hayloft."

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Once-popular Ozark Barn Swings were destination for thrill-seekers