Lagoon and La muerte

So this past weekend we all headed up to Provo. Ryan had tickets to the BYU game, so he and Ethan cheered the Cougs on while Maddie and I shopped till we dropped. Which, is actually not all that long when your stamina is built on a package of donettes from the Maverik and you have a five-year old in tow.


The next day, after spending a night in the best hotel that eighty bucks can buy (read: we were the only white people there) we headed out to Lagoon.


Lagoon is one of my favorite places ever. I have an unholy fascination with this place. Back in 1886 it was called Lake Park, and it was one of several resorts that popped up along the vast beaches of the Great Salt Lake throughout the late 1800s. Through the years, the lake level receded drastically until Lake Park was far from the lake and it closed by the end of the 1895 season.


One of the owners then bought most of the original Lake Park buildings and moved them about 3 miles (5 km) east near Farmington, Utah. The resort was re-named Lagoon for the small body of water located on the forty acres.


Lagoon boasted "Bowling, Elegant Dancing Pavilion, Fine Music, A Shady Bowery and Good Restaurants." In 1899, Shoot-the-Chutes, the park's first thrill ride, was added. In 1900 guests began row boating and swimming in Lagoon Lake. Over time more rides were added, such as the authentic hand carved carousel that consisted of 47 animals.


One of the most popular rides today was installed in 1921. This is Lagoon's famous wooden roller coaster, designed by John Miller of Coney Island fame. (Incidentally, this is my favorite ride in the park. I even made Ethan ride it with me, a decision he no doubt regrets. Also, last year I rode it with my cool MIL.)


In 1927 a 1.5 million gallon swimming pool with "water fit to drink" was built north of Lagoon Lake. It was one of the first filtered swimming pools in the west, and was a cleaner alternative than swimming in the briny Great Salt Lake. (If you've ever been swimming there, you know just how nasty it can be.)


The 1920s and 1930s were popular years at Lagoon. There were betting and horse racing there in the 1920s, but the Utah State Legislature put a stop to that only a few years after it began. During the "Big Band" era Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Glen Miller played Lagoon's stage.

The park closed for three seasons during World War II. By 1946 the park was in bad condition and the owners considered razing it. However, two investors convinced the family to lease it to them and consequently made many improvements, including a new ferris wheel in 1953 (the ferris wheel is the 2nd largest in the U.S.)

In November 1953 a fire destroyed much of the park, including the fun house, dance pavilion and the front portion of the roller coaster. It was quickly rebuilt to open for the next season and began to surpass the popularity of its main rival, Saltair. Many rides were restored, rebuilt, or replaced, and a few new rides were added. In 1956, Mother Gooseland, Lagoon's first themed area, was opened. It featured rides only for children, was added between the Midway and the swimming pool. (Bulgy the whale ring a bell??)

From the mid 1950s into the 1960s Lagoon made many improvements. A brand-new fun house was built, and a showboat was added to the lake. There was also a mini-car ride added in 1960, followed by the "Space Scrambler," spook house, I.Q. Zoo, and shooting gallery in 1961. The first Wild Mouse ride came in 1965. On the Midway, groups like the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, the Kingston Trio and Johnny Cash drew the crowds to the bandstand. The Beach Boys made mention of the park in their song titled "Salt Lake City".


The turn-of-the-century style Opera House Square opened in 1968 and showcased melodramas and musicals. In 1976 Lagoon expanded east by purchasing Pioneer Village, an old west town complete with several historic structures that had been collected and exhibited in Salt Lake City since 1953.


The famous swimming pool closed after its fifth decade in 1987. This made way for the $5.5 million Lagoon-A-Beach which was completed in 1989. Its construction spelled the end of the small-scale railroad operations in Pioneer Village, as some of the supports stood in the way of the track.

In 2003, Lagoon built the Spider, a spinning coaster across from Fire Dragon and Wild Mouse. Two years later, The Bat, an inverted coaster, was constructed near Lagoon-A-Beach. For the 2007 season, Lagoon built a new $10 million roller coaster named Wicked. Wicked is a first-of-its-kind Zierer tower launch coaster.


So that's a brief (somewhat) history of my favorite park that I kinda stole from Wikipedia.

But that's not all my post is about. That's just the background.

Of course I couldn't just go to the park and have a good time (which I did). Of course, I HAD to wonder while I was there just how many people have been killed at Lagoon. And of course, as soon as we got home I googled "deaths at lagoon amusement park" and got my answer.

Four people.

Here's the story: 2 guys were killed sometime in or around the 1940s. They were both in their twenties and both were killed on the roller coaster. Not much info on exactly how they died. For the next fifty years, nothing. Then, in 1989, two kids were killed within six weeks of each other.

A six year old boy was killed on Puff the Dragon. Yeah, talk about depressing. Finally, a 13 year old girl was killed on the roller coaster. It was apparently a fluke of physics. She was 5'3" and weighed a mere 71 pounds. She was thrown from the coaster (while the lap restraint was still in place) and fell 40 feet to her death.

What a horrible end -- to die at an amusement park. It really creeps me out. But I can't stop thinking about it. Let me know if any of you out there are as morbid as I.