Elitch Gardens
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| Location | 38th St and Tennyson St |
|---|---|
| Owner | John and Mary Elitch (1890-1916) John Mulvihill (1916-1930) Gurtler family (1930-1995) |
| Opened | May 1, 1890 |
| Closed | October 1, 1994 |
| Operating season | May through October |
| Area | 28 acres (113,000 m²) |
| Rides | total
|
| Slogan | Not to See Elitch's is Not to See Denver |
Elitch Gardens was a family owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, United States at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the most popular entertainment destinations in Colorado. It was nationally known for its lush gardens, the Trocadero Ballroom, the Theatre at the Gardens and the premier wooden roller coaster, Mister Twister. The park moved to downtown Denver in 1994 and later became Six Flags Elitch Gardens. The former location is being redeveloped.
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[edit] Early History
Elitch's Zoological Gardens opened May 1, 1890, on 16 acres (65,000 m²) of former farmland bought by John and Mary Elitch.
Mary Elitch managed the park for 26 years following John's death in 1891. Theatre at the Gardens opened that year, and became home to the oldest summer stock theater in the country starting in 1897.
The park's first roller coaster, a Toboggan Figure 8, opened in 1904. The park's original carousel, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company, was added in 1906. The carousel remains in operation today as the Kit Carson County Carousel in Burlington, Colorado.
[edit] Mulvihill/Gurtler ownership
In 1916, the park was sold to John Mulvihill, with a provision stating the name could never be changed. New attractions appeared, including the fabulous Trocadero Ballroom in 1917, and two Philadelphia Toboggan Company creations: the Wildcat roller coaster — designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck — in 1922 and a new carousel in 1928. This carousel is still operational at Six Flags Elitch Gardens. It was during this time the park's enduring slogan was first popularized: "Not to See Elitch's is Not to See Denver."
As floral gardens were expanded and greenhouses built, Elitch's became a commercial florist. Mulvihill died in 1930 and the park's ownership transferred to his son-in-law Arnold Gurtler.
In the mid 1930s, the zoo portion of the park was discontinued, with the space being used for more formal gardens (and rides). A giant floral clock was added and the Trocadero Ballroom became a regular stop for touring big bands and home to An Evening at the Troc, a weekly radio broadcast. During this classic period of Big Band Jazz and Swing, the Trocadero Ballroom became a famous summertime night spot as its seemingly endless succession of brilliant stars provided countless hours of live national radio broadcasts in an age before TV. [1]
In 1945, management was assumed by Gurtler's sons, Jack and Budd. In 1952, a section of the park called Kiddieland, oriented to small children, was opened. At a time when amusement parks catered almost exclusively to adults, Elitch's Kiddieland was an instant hit attraction with the first of many lucky generations of small fry. Lots of fun stuff for tots, like 2-seat rocket planes, open-wheel race cars, real floating "motorboats", a real small-scale car track with gas station, all in Kid Scale. The floral business side of the park was quite successful, becoming the largest supplier of carnations in the country in the early 1950s.
Despite substantial community outcry, the Trocadero Ballroom was torn down by the Gurtlers in 1975, claiming the declining popularity of ballroom dancing, replacing Denver's beloved landmark Old Troc with Skee-Ball and arcade games. The theater, which had switched formats from summer stock to star-centered performances in 1963, closed in 1991.
[edit] Mister Twister
Mister Twister opened in 1964. It was a 96-foot (29m) tall wooden coaster, designed by John Allen of Philadelphia Toboggan Company[2], and advertisements promoted the fact that it didn't "have a foot of straight track". It was regularly rated as one of the top ten rides in the country until it stopped operating in 1994 when the park was relocated. Twister II at the new Elitch Gardens is a significantly tamer coaster modeled after the original.
Knoebels, in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, considered relocating the original Mister Twister but, due to space constraints, built a new version very closely patterned after the original, which they simply called Twister.
[edit] Move to new location
In 1985, management and ownership of the park was assumed by Budd Gurtler's son, Sandy Gurtler. At its historic location the park had no expansion space, and the family had long planned to relocate to a larger location. The city of Denver provided a location in the Central Platte River Valley, an area that was once a Superfund cleanup site.
On May 27, 1995, Elitch's opened at its new downtown location with fifteen of its eighteen major rides from the old location.[3] The new location sits adjacent to Interstate 25 between INVESCO Field at Mile High and the Pepsi Center. It is currently one of the few downtown amusement parks in the United States.
At the old location, separate arson events a day apart in November 1995 destroyed the arcade building[4] and heavily damaged the Splinter water ride and Wildcat roller coaster[5].
Following two seasons at its new location with attendance of about one million (versus 750,000 for the last season at its old location) and a second season goal of 1.2 million [6], the park was sold to Premier Parks who subsequently purchased all Six Flags parks. The park operated as 'Six Flags Elitch Gardens' until 2006. From 2007 it will once again be known simply as 'Elitch Gardens'.
[edit] Redevelopment
The 28-acre (113,000 m²) site of the former amusement park has undergone redevelopment as Highlands' Garden Village. The site won the Environmental Protection Agency's 2005 Overall Excellence in Smart Growth award [7] for its new urbanism development of 308 housing units and a variety of office and retail spaces. The site maintained many of the old trees and other park elements, including the historic Elitch Theatre and the structure that once housed the carousel, which is now a picnic structure. The new development exceeded Colorado's Built Green and Energy Star programs and also used recycled construction materials [8] Site developers had an agreement with Wal-Mart to put in a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at the site. Wal-Mart pulled out of the agreement after strong opposition from residents, neighbors and the local city council representative. Commercial development was stalled until July 2005 when Sunflower Market announced they would anchor the center with an organic grocery store.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Fisher, Steve. "Dancing at the Troc". University of Denver Magazine. Spring 2004.
- ^ Mr. Twister (Elitch Gardens). Roller Coaster DataBase.
- ^ Will, Ed. "ELITCH GARDENS REBORN: Patience the watchword for opening day at Denver's new (old) amusement park". Denver Post, May 26, 1995: Weekend page 22.
- ^ Robinson, Marilyn. "Fire spurs call to up security Old Elitch park scene of blaze." Denver Post', November 4, 1995: B-01.
- ^ "Second fire at old Elitch's". Denver Post, November 6, 1995: B-03.
- ^ Olgeirson, Ian. "Forecast for Elitch's: Visitor numbers flat". Denver Business Journal, September 20, 1996.
- ^ EPA Smart Growth: 2005 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. United States Environmental Protection Agency. August 2, 2006.
- ^ Jonathan Rose Companies > Projects > Highlands' Garden Village.
- ^ Moore, Paula. "Retail building starts at old Elitch's site". Denver Business Journal. November 3, 2006.
[edit] Further reading
- Hull, Betty Lynne (2003). Denver's Elitch Gardens : spinning a century of dreams. Boulder, CO: Johnson Books. ISBN 1555662854.
- Hunt, Corrine (1982). The Elitch Gardens story : memories of Jack Gurtler. Boulder, CO: Rocky Mountain Writers Guild. ISBN 9780937050279.
- KRMA-TV. (1995). Rocky Mountain Legacy: Elitch Gardens [Videotape]. Denver, CO: Council for Public Television, Channel 6, Inc..
- Levy, Edwin Lewis (1960). Elitch's Gardens, Denver, Colorado: a history of the oldest summer theatre in the United States (1890-1941). OCLC 15110556.
[edit] External links
- History of Six Flags Elitch Gardens timeline
- Highlands' Garden Village
- The Original Elitch Gardens photoessay at Colorado Magazine
