Restoration of what I feel are key historical pieces of Cascade Park
1. The Sign
Cascade Park’s entry sign is essentially the marquee for the park. Located on a busy road, it is the first seen part of the park.
It’s classic, it’s, iconic, and poorly maintained. It may be rusted and neglected, but its bones are good and all efforts should be made to save, preserve and even “plus” it.
The sign used to sport neon tubing that made it a sight to be seen at night. Today, the sign could be outfitted with neon again, or faux neon (led) or even at bare minimum, just sanded and painted. To whoever has the authority to budget the restoration of this sign, please make it happen!
There was talk recently about moving this parking lot entrance away from this busy intersection. That should probably happen. Even if so, leave the sign where it is and let’s get it restored!
2. The Wishing Well/Spring
Since the earliest days of Cascade Park, the natural springs were here. Once advertised as an attraction, they appeared on the park’s promotional materials and thousands of postcards that were sold at the park and mailed all over the world. Although not currently hooked to running water, the old well base is still here. Its roof is gone and in a very sad and embarrassing state. The restoration of this artifact and piece of Cascade Park’s history would be a very low budget upgrade of what I feel is a very necessary part of the park’s history to preserve.
This 1980s photo of the wishing well demonstrates that while the amusement park’s days were coming to a close, this historic structure remained in great condition.
Restoration is a must and should include restoration of the victorian features found at the top of the poles and a new cone-shaped roof. Many of Cascade Park’s buildings once had these victorian features. A couple of the older picnic pavilions still do. It’s a unique style that has been disappearing and no new Home Depot off the shelf gazebo will work. I hope the city can hire a carpenter to look at this, make a historically accurate template, and rebuilt to match the historic structure.
3. The Swimming Pool
First, it needs to be said that efforts are already underway to ensure the swimming pool is saved and reopened. Restoration of the pool is obviously a must for preserving Cascade Park’s history, but important now, more than ever to offer summer refuge to families and children who simply do not have enough to do outside of activities revolving around cellphone, computer, and television screens.
Volunteers have been spending time and money to restore the pool. A new roof has already been added to the old bathhouse. This will preserve what is there now and hopefully serve as a catalyst for the project.
Click here to learn more about the restoration of the swimming pool!
4. The Lake
I would absolutely LOVE to see the lake restored but understand why the city would not want to expend the capital needed for a project of this scale.
The old lake was a nice recreation spot, providing swimming, fishing, boating, ice skating, and other activities. In its history there was a small ferry boat, rowboat rentals, and even a small paddlewheel boat available.
Click here to learn more about the history of the lake and learn about its condition today.