The Abandoned Lake Dolores Waterpark in California

Lake Dolores Waterpark initially opened for business in 1962, the Lake Dolores Waterpark in California’s Mojave Desert has indeed been deserted 3 times. The assets to redevelop the abandoned Lake Dolores Waterpark were recently purchased by a privately owned company. The overall operation might take six years to achieve, however the Lake Dolores Waterpark could well be completed as early as 2023. Let’s see more unexpected details about Lake Dolores Waterpark.

The History of Lake Dolores Waterpark  

Throughout the late 1950s, a wealthy man named Bob Byers developed the land as a personal playground for his entire family. The Lake Dolores Waterpark first opened for business to the wider populace around 1962. Lake Dolores Waterpark was called following Byers’ wife, Dolores. A lazy river, zip – lining, bumper boats, including steel water slides feeding into a man-made lake were among the attractions.

Lake Dolores Waterpark

However, even by end of the 1980s, the resort had closed due to a lack of funding and a struggle to compete with some more sophisticated activities. By 1998, the park relaunched to the people as Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark. Advertisements showed vintage cars, rock-and-roll song were broadcast throughout the park, and one water slide even titled “Greased Lighting,” hearkens back to the era in which the Lake Dolores Waterpark originally established.

Why did Lake Dolores Waterpark Close?

The Lake Dolores Waterpark became indebted as well as ultimately forced into bankruptcy around 2000. To make the matter worst, since May 1999, one of the Lake Dolores Waterpark’s staff, James Mason, tragically injured in a horrible event. Mason was paralyzed following colliding with a dam near the bottom of the “Doo Wop Super Drop” water slide. Later 2002, the park resurfaced underneath a new moniker, Discovery Waterpark.

Everything was, nevertheless, even now disturbed by Mason’s disaster. Around 2004, Mason had also been granted $4.4 million in restitution. Despite unable to draw massive gatherings, the park collapsed that same year. In the years thereafter, the deserted location has been used as a backdrop for skateboarding tricks, including one with a Mini Cooper advertisement starring Tony Hawk. These are the reasons why is Lake Dolores abandoned.

Lake Dolores Waterpark

Deterioration of Lake Dolores Waterpark

The Lake Dolores Waterpark was bought for $2 million by G&GF Enterprise around 2013; however licensing concerns caused the renovation to be postponed for the last several years. The original arcades as well as Lazy River Cafe were damaged by fire in 2018 whereas the business waited for municipal clearance to redevelop the land. The current program will be implemented in five stages, with the very first being the construction of a lake, which might be completed by next summer.

The idea, according to Garg, seems to be to promote overnight stays, such as school camping trips as well as workplace getaways. The second stage, an RV park, is anticipated to start construction early 2021 and also be finished by the end of the year. The water park’s development will not begin until 2022. It will require six to eight months to complete.

During summer 2023, the Lake Dolores Waterpark could very well be open. Dolores Lake Park is the proposed name. The work will indeed be overseen by White Water West, a former constructor, according to Garg. He noted that over 90% of the aging infrastructure can still be salvaged, thus the newest rides would be integrated to the current design.

Garg claims that the one of the reasons past attempts to replace the park faltered is that it’s only accessible for a limited time. He decides to continue the new park accessible all year. Nearly 90,000 square feet of commercial and organizational facilities, as well as a library with amphitheater, would indeed be added in the plan’s fourth stage. Garg further stated that he intends to convert an abandoned parking lot into a solar system to power the property.

This phase might begin around 2023 that will last until 2024. People passing on their journey from Southern California to Las Vegas will be drawn to a basis for development complex that includes resorts, cafes, cinemas, and a retail area. Off I-15, the fifth step will provide almost 46,000 square feet of retail and commercial area. That phase’s development will start in 2025 as well as end in 2026. If everything goes as planned, the location might serve as just a remembrance of a Lake Dolores Waterpark that so many people actually believe had vanished permanently.

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