LAGOON LAKE
Opened: 1896
Location: South Midway
HISTORY & INFO
This body of water is the namesake of Lagoon. Some say it was originally a reservoir. Others say it was originally a pond for a Salt Lake City ice company. Actually, it's a little of both. The water was drained by Simon Bamberger to form a recreational area for his new park which would be named after the lagoon. In winter, Lagoon used the ice from the lake for several purposes.
Lagoon Lake was originally over twice as large as it is now. It was basically separated into two halves with the current lake on the south. There were bridges and even a Treasure Island at one point. The northern half of the lake was probably filled in and built over sometime in the 1920s when the pool was built or in the 1950s when Mother Gooseland came to be. Swimming & row boating in Lagoon Lake started in 1900. Swimming in the lake ended in 1926. The new filtered freshwater Swimming Pool was built just north of the lake in 1927. Starting in 1959, a Showboat "cruised Lagoon Lake in search of an elusive dragon". In 1971, Water Skeeters began traveling around the lake. They were removed in 1991. I always hear people talk about how gross it is in the lake now. I'm sure it would cost a lot to clean out the lake as much as it might need to be. There were people who wouldn't ride the Skeeter Boats because they were afraid of falling in that dirty water. I'm curious to see what kind of stuff has sunk to the bottom of it. Maybe there is a dragon down there. I really wouldn't doubt it. Either way, the lake gives variety to the scenery and I don't have any problems with it. In the late 1980s, the park had plans to build a tall-masted ship on the west side of the lake. The idea was for the high-divers & seals from the shows at the Sun & Fun Theater to perform there. They were also considering water-skiing shows on the lake. All this was planned to become reality by 1990 or so. It is unknown to me why they never followed through.
ATTRACTIONS IN & AROUND LAGOON LAKE
1900-1926 Swimming
1900-19__ Row boating
1959-19__ Showboat
PHOTOS
Photo: An early Lagoon postcard. Notice the old pavilion in the background.
Photo:Another old photo showing the bridge seperating the north and south "lagoons".
