Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark
This waterpark is located in Newberry Springs, Southern California and was originally built and designed by Bob Byers for use by his extended family. After the initial construction took place in the late 50's and early 60's, the park finally opened in May 1962 and was called Lake Dolores, the park was named after Byers wife; although the lake part came from the manmade lake which was fed by underground springs. Over 25 years, many rides and attractions were added, which evolved the site into a waterpark. The waterpark was even advertised on TV with the slogan "the fun spot of the desert."
The attractions this park had to offer were eight identical 150ft sixty degree angle steel waterslides, which were mounted side by side on a manmade hill and riders were given small floats which skimmed across the lagoon when they hit the end of the slide. There was also two v-shaped slides, which are to be ridden standing up. The slide ended 15ft above the water, shooting out the rider like a human cannonball.
Lake Dolores peak time was in the early 1970's right through to the mid 80's, but unfortunately this all changed in the late 80's and there was a downfall in visitors, this led to the park closing. Bob Byers sold the park in August 1990 to Lake Dolores Group. They envisioned a more polished park, with a 1950's theme.
With this new theme, they renamed the park. It was now known as Rock-A-Hoola waterpark, and there was a constant loop of 1950's/60's rock 'n' roll music playing. This park opened on July 4th 1998, and had new attractions to go with its new identity; the old slides were out and a zip cord ride was in. This ride had people hanging from a hand held device attached to a guide wire for 200ft, and they would slam into a blocking mechanism that would stop around 20ft from the water, allowing the rider to drops straight down. There was also high diving boards, and trapeze type swings, with riders launching themselves into the lake. The ride 'the big bopper' was a fast long group raft ride, while the 'lazy river' done exactly what it says on the tin and was a more relaxed raft ride. Bumper boats, oval jet ski racetrack and a swimming pool were also on site for their visitors to enjoy. They even had a river ride on inflated tubes.
While the park boasted of all these rides and attractions, in its three seasons that it ran from, ti managed to amass $3 million dollars in debt. This could partly be due to an employee being crippled in1999. Due to this accident, the employee was awarded $4.4 million in damages, and 1 of the investors experienced financial problems. This led to the park filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, in February 2011. Filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy allows the company to be reorganised, rather than the company be made to go into liquidation (resulting in the end of the organisation). The trustee the court appointed failed to find a buyer for the park, and this resulted to the 2000 bankruptcy filing of the company. The property was then returned to Dolores Byers. The property went to Dolores due to Bob dying in 1996, and the outstanding debts were discharged. The site was sold in 2001 to S.L Investment group, and she died shortly after the sell took place.
With the new owners, the park went through another renovation. They spent $400,000 on the park, renamed it Discovery Waterpark and reopened in 2002. Although this new opening saw it open just on weekends, this was for 2002 and 2003. 2004 was its last year of operation, and the park opened intermittently throughout that year. It has been closed ever since 2004. All the parks hardware were sold, with the 'Big Bopper' waterslide being dismantled and shipped to Canada; the ride is now known as 'Colossal Canyon' at Cultus Lake waterpark, located near Vancouver. The waterslides and attractions that were once there have gone and the park is now in ruins. Many urban explorers have visited the site, and many have gone in just to vandalise the area. It has been torn apart by those who sell metal and wires. All these people have entered the site, even though there is a 'no trespassing sign visible at the entrance, this sign was torn off in 2015. Even though this sign was up, there was no fence around the site and the road leading to the park is in ruins and the car park is covered in a layer of dust.
During the parks closure, the park has hand many attempt to take it over. One was in 2003, with Ron Brown and the pro players network. They proposed to buy the park and turn it into a camp for disadvantaged youths, however this effort failed. In 2011, Oasis Themepark announced a project in which they would renovated and reopen the park, this has been desultory. While the park has been unused for its original use, the band Muse used the park in their lyric video for their song 'reaper'. Mini also used the site for a commercial in spring 2015. American Top Gear used the park as an obstacle course on 30th September 2014 (season 5, episode 7: 'What Can It Take.')
The parks future has been left unknown, but due to the level or disrepair it has fallen under, many believe that a renovation is highly likely, due to how much it would cost to fix the damage at the site.
The attractions this park had to offer were eight identical 150ft sixty degree angle steel waterslides, which were mounted side by side on a manmade hill and riders were given small floats which skimmed across the lagoon when they hit the end of the slide. There was also two v-shaped slides, which are to be ridden standing up. The slide ended 15ft above the water, shooting out the rider like a human cannonball.
Lake Dolores peak time was in the early 1970's right through to the mid 80's, but unfortunately this all changed in the late 80's and there was a downfall in visitors, this led to the park closing. Bob Byers sold the park in August 1990 to Lake Dolores Group. They envisioned a more polished park, with a 1950's theme.
With this new theme, they renamed the park. It was now known as Rock-A-Hoola waterpark, and there was a constant loop of 1950's/60's rock 'n' roll music playing. This park opened on July 4th 1998, and had new attractions to go with its new identity; the old slides were out and a zip cord ride was in. This ride had people hanging from a hand held device attached to a guide wire for 200ft, and they would slam into a blocking mechanism that would stop around 20ft from the water, allowing the rider to drops straight down. There was also high diving boards, and trapeze type swings, with riders launching themselves into the lake. The ride 'the big bopper' was a fast long group raft ride, while the 'lazy river' done exactly what it says on the tin and was a more relaxed raft ride. Bumper boats, oval jet ski racetrack and a swimming pool were also on site for their visitors to enjoy. They even had a river ride on inflated tubes.
While the park boasted of all these rides and attractions, in its three seasons that it ran from, ti managed to amass $3 million dollars in debt. This could partly be due to an employee being crippled in1999. Due to this accident, the employee was awarded $4.4 million in damages, and 1 of the investors experienced financial problems. This led to the park filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, in February 2011. Filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy allows the company to be reorganised, rather than the company be made to go into liquidation (resulting in the end of the organisation). The trustee the court appointed failed to find a buyer for the park, and this resulted to the 2000 bankruptcy filing of the company. The property was then returned to Dolores Byers. The property went to Dolores due to Bob dying in 1996, and the outstanding debts were discharged. The site was sold in 2001 to S.L Investment group, and she died shortly after the sell took place.
With the new owners, the park went through another renovation. They spent $400,000 on the park, renamed it Discovery Waterpark and reopened in 2002. Although this new opening saw it open just on weekends, this was for 2002 and 2003. 2004 was its last year of operation, and the park opened intermittently throughout that year. It has been closed ever since 2004. All the parks hardware were sold, with the 'Big Bopper' waterslide being dismantled and shipped to Canada; the ride is now known as 'Colossal Canyon' at Cultus Lake waterpark, located near Vancouver. The waterslides and attractions that were once there have gone and the park is now in ruins. Many urban explorers have visited the site, and many have gone in just to vandalise the area. It has been torn apart by those who sell metal and wires. All these people have entered the site, even though there is a 'no trespassing sign visible at the entrance, this sign was torn off in 2015. Even though this sign was up, there was no fence around the site and the road leading to the park is in ruins and the car park is covered in a layer of dust.
During the parks closure, the park has hand many attempt to take it over. One was in 2003, with Ron Brown and the pro players network. They proposed to buy the park and turn it into a camp for disadvantaged youths, however this effort failed. In 2011, Oasis Themepark announced a project in which they would renovated and reopen the park, this has been desultory. While the park has been unused for its original use, the band Muse used the park in their lyric video for their song 'reaper'. Mini also used the site for a commercial in spring 2015. American Top Gear used the park as an obstacle course on 30th September 2014 (season 5, episode 7: 'What Can It Take.')
The parks future has been left unknown, but due to the level or disrepair it has fallen under, many believe that a renovation is highly likely, due to how much it would cost to fix the damage at the site.
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