It’s the season of swimming pools and amusement parks, which has us reminiscing about the best of both: When Lakeside Amusement Park had its own indoor pool.
Part of the original park design, the Natatorium’s walls were covered in murals of nymphs and cherubs, and the pool even had a waterfall feature. Sadly, the pool building burned to the ground in 1973 (though the pool itself hadn’t been operational for many years). At that time, the pool building was being used as a workshop and storage space for ride cars during the off-season. This meant that along with losing the building in the fire, Lakeside also lost critical ride equipment. The Star Ride — which lost all but one of its bucket-like cars — went out of commission for good. But if you’re a frequent modern-day guest at the park, you may still know the Star Ride (even if you never got to ride it!) because its ghostly, Ferris wheel-like frame still stands.
(Special thanks to David Forsyth’s book, “Denver’s Lakeside Amusement Park: From the White City Beautiful to a Century of Fun” for the facts!)
Speaking of iconic old Denver amusement parks — before there was Lakeside, there was Manhattan Beach 👇
