Finally, the plug was pulled on Funtown Mountain in September of the same year it opened, following Russell’s arrest and subsequent time spent in jail. After Russell’s very public episode, he spent a lot of time in isolation, grappling with depression and thoughts of suicide. Thankfully, Mr. Russell received the help he needed before he could go through with his plans.

Today, Russell operates the Everything Will Be OK Project, a nonprofit organization aiming to normalize mental illness and bring awareness to the condition he and many others nationwide suffer from. As Russell told the Louisville Public Media in 2018: 

“‘It’s not going to get better’ is what I start to believe, and that has never been true, so what I say to people out there is that the way you feel right now is not the way you are going to feel the rest of your life. I guarantee it. Even though you may feel that way, if you keep going, if you just keep going – we’re making a t-shirt that says ‘Just keep going’ – the day will come when you feel better.”

Funtown Mountain operated for less than a year before it was permanently closed and left behind. The park remained in an unkempt state for quite some time. The chairlift that once took guests to the top of the mountain remained inoperable and was deemed too unsafe to use. In fact, the mountain sat abandoned until 2018 when efforts began to revitalize the historic location.

Funtown returned to Guntown once more, and for the first time in years, guests could once again visit the hillside wild west town in Cave City, Kentucky to witness some live gunfights and stunt shows. The park operates seasonally with shuttles taking guests up and down the mountainside. The old chairlift still remains on the property, not dismantled but still beyond repair as a memory of the parks that existed before. Although no one can know for sure what the future holds for the new and improved Guntown Mountain, the history of it is rich and intriguing and full of lessons for anyone to learn from. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this roadside oddity, make sure to keep an eye out for any remnants of what came before.