Lake Dolores Waterpark

by Mariola Bitner

Title

Lake Dolores Waterpark

Artist

Mariola Bitner

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

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Like the abandoned Zzyzx Healing Center, Lake Dolores / Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark is a fascinating abandoned location built at the site of a natural spring.

The park was originally designed and built by local businessman Bob Byers for use by his extended family. Lake Dolores was named after Byers' wife.

The park saw its peak attendance between the early 1970s and the mid-1980s. After a downturn in popularity in the late 1980s, the park closed.

Byers sold the defunct park in August 1990 to Lake Dolores Group LLC, a three–member investment group led by Oxnard businessman Terry Christensen, who envisioned a more polished park with a 1950s theme.

In 1995, the original waterslides on the hill were removed to make room for new installations. Advertising and promotion was contracted to Beachport Entertainment Corporation, and the park reopened under a new name, "Rock–A–Hoola", on July 4, 1998. The new park featured the constant playing of 1950s and 1960s rock and roll music throughout the park along with some compatible graphics. In its "Rock–A–Hoola" incarnation, the park included a river ride on inflated tubes.

An on–premises RV park had been planned but its opening was delayed. In its three seasons the park amassed three million dollars in debt, one of the three investors experienced financial problems, and an employee crippled in a 1999 accident was awarded $4.4 million in damages (affirmed by the California Fourth District Court of Appeal in 2004). The park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2000.

After a $400,000 renovation the waterpark reopened in May 2002 under a new name, "Discovery Waterpark". In 2002 and 2003, the park was open on weekends. During the last season of operation in the summer of 2004, the park operated intermittently. The park has been closed since the summer of 2004.

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Uploaded

May 28th, 2018

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