Lake Dolores Waterpark
| Lake Dolores Waterpark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Rock-a-Hoola sign at the park entrance (April 2011) |
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| place | Newberry Springs , California | |||
| opening | May 1962 | |||
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Coordinates: 34 ° 56 ′ 54 ″ N , 116 ° 41 ′ 15 ″ W.
The Lake Dolores Waterpark (English for Dolores Lake Water Park ), later also Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark and Discovery Waterpark , is an abandoned water park in Newberry Springs in the Mojave Desert in Southern California . The park was the United States' first water park .
history
Planning and construction
Local businessman Bob Byers originally planned and created the park for his extended family. The lake Lake Dolores was named after Byers' wife (Dolores Byers). In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the conception, planning and construction of the water park began.
A large area of arid land on the eastern corner of the Mojave Desert, about 100 meters from Interstate 15 , was chosen for the project . The area contains underground springs that are fed by the Mojave Aquifer . Thus, it was not a problem, the 110 hectares large reservoir Lake Dolores with water supply.
Public access and expansion
In May 1962, a campsite on Lake Dolores was opened to the public. Motocross enthusiasts and travelers on Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas secured the income from the campsite.
Over the next 25 years - until 1987 - numerous attractions and rides were added; the site developed into a water park. It was advertised on television with the slogan “The Fun Spot of The Desert!”.
The height of the park was between the early 1970s and mid 1980s. After a downward trend in the late 1980s, the park eventually closed.
Lake Dolores Waterpark - Rides and Attractions
The park was characterized by eight identical, 46-meter-high, 60-degree-angled steel water slides, which were mounted side by side on an artificially constructed hill. Visitors rode on small plastic rafts that hopped 37 to 46 feet across the lagoon.
Nearby were two V-shaped water slides, around 46 meters long. The slides ended 4.6 meters above the water's surface and hurled the standing visitor away like a human cannonball .
During the zip-cord ride, passengers hung from a hand-held device attached to a guide wire at a 30-degree angle 61 meters above the ground. At the end of this wire, the handle would hit a locking mechanism and come to a standstill about six meters above the water, with the pulse pushing the hanging rider six meters forward into the lagoon.
In the middle of a smaller adjacent lake were three high diving boards and three trapezoidal swings that hung from an A-frame construction on a six-meter-high platform. Passengers jumped from these swings into the lake.
The “Big Bopper” was a fast, long group drive. The "Lazy River" was a slower and more relaxed raft trip. There were also bumper boats, an oval JetSki water racetrack, and a swimming pool.
Rock-a-Hoola water park
Byers sold the disused park in August 1990 to Lake Dolores Group LLC , a three-person investment group led by Oxnard businessman Terry Christensen. The group envisioned a more glamorous park with a 1950s theme.
In 1995 the original water slides were removed from the hill to make room for new installations. Beachport Entertainment Corporation was contracted for marketing . On July 4, 1998, the park finally opened under the new name Rock-A-Hoola . A special feature of the new park was that rock and roll music from the 1950s and 1960s could be heard constantly. A new attraction was a river trip on inflated tubes.
A parking space for motorhomes was planned, but the opening was delayed. In its three seasons, the park was $ 3 million in debt: one of the three investors had financial problems, and an employee who was paralyzed in an accident in 1999 received $ 4.4 million in damages (upheld by the California Court of Appeals in 2004). The park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2000 .
The trustee appointed by the court could not find a buyer. In August 2000, the bankruptcy filing was changed to Chapter 7 Liquidation. The bankruptcy judge overseeing the case returned the property to Dolores Byers (husband Bob Byers died in 1996), with most of the debt being paid off.
Dolores Byers sold the property to SL Investment Group LLC in Industry, California, in September 2001 . She died a month later.
Discovery water park
After a $ 400,000 renovation, the water park reopened in May 2002 under the new name Discovery Waterpark . In 2002 and 2003 it was only open on weekends. During the last season, in the summer of 2004, the park was only open intermittently. The park has been permanently closed since summer 2004.
Ruin and ruin
In 2003, Olympic gold medalist and former professional football player Ron Brown and the Pro-Players Network, a group of professional athletes, wanted to turn the park into a camp for disadvantaged youth, but this attempt failed.
In recent years, the park's attractions have been sold piece by piece. The “Big Bopper” water slide was dismantled and shipped to Canada. As the "Colossal Canyon" it is now in Cultus Lake Waterpark near Vancouver .
In 2011 a group called Oasis Themepark presented a project: to renovate and reopen the park, but progress was only half-hearted.
today
Today all the water slides and attractions are gone and the park is in ruins. Most of the park has been repeatedly ravaged and destroyed by people removing metal and wires from the buildings. Visitors entered the park even though a sign saying “No trespassing” was posted at the entrance. This sign was torn down in 2015.
There is currently no fence or border surrounding the park so people from the Mojave Desert can enter. The road to the park is damaged and the former parking lot is covered in a layer of dust from the Mojave Desert.
The future of real estate is unknown; Renovation work is unlikely because of the irreparable damage.
Appearance in film and television
In March 2008, the park appeared on an episode of the reality TV show Rob & Big on MTV . Skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and friends performed skateboard stunts for the show in the water park and on the slides.
In June 2012, another skate film (“Kilian Martin: Altered Route” directed by Brett Novak) showed the park as it was then.
In 2013, the New York art group TrustoCorp converted the park to TrustoLand as an artistic statement. They painted numerous signs and buildings with unusual pictures and messages.
On May 27, 2013 the British band Boards of Canada released their album Tomorrow's Harvest in Lake Dolores Waterpark. Previously, they announced the appearance on Twitter .
On September 30, 2014, the park was used as the backdrop for the Top Gear America series (5th season, 7th episode What Can It Take ).
In the spring of 2015, an advertising film for Mini was shot in the park .
Individual evidence
- ↑ America's first waterpark has been standing empty for 13 years . In: Mail Online . ( dailymail.co.uk [accessed December 10, 2017]).
- ↑ Beachport Entertainment Corp. Announces Management Agreement with Lake Dolores. - Free Online Library. Retrieved May 22, 2017 .
- ^ Worker Can Sue Employer for On-Site, Off-Clock Injury. Retrieved July 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Kent Morlan: James Mason v. Lake Dolores Group, LLC. Retrieved July 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Off-Duty Employee Injured On Employer's Water Slide Was Entitled To $ 4.4 Million Judgment | California Employment Law Update . In: California Employment Law Update . May 1, 2004 ( proskauer.com [accessed July 19, 2017]).
- ^ Desert Dispatch newspaper - Barstow, California: Archived Story. Retrieved July 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Lake Dolores will have an interesting true story to tell. Retrieved May 22, 2017 .
- ↑ http://newberryspringsinfo.com/Alliance/OasisThemePark.html. Retrieved May 22, 2017 .
- ↑ Mass Appeal: Trusto Corp Bombs a Theme Park - Inside Issue 52. March 18, 2013, accessed May 22, 2017 .
- ↑ BOARDS OF CANADA on Twitter . In: Twitter . ( twitter.com [accessed May 22, 2017]).
- ↑ Lists: Boards of Canada Host Tomorrow's Harvest Listening Party in California Desert | Pitchfork. Retrieved May 22, 2017 (English).
- ^ Watch Boards of Canada debut new song at Detroit's Movement Festival . In: Consequence of Sound . May 27, 2013 ( consequenceofsound.net [accessed May 22, 2017]).