The children's playground opened in 1955 and sat between the Cottages and the outdoor swimming pool. A louvered fence shielded it from US220 and the pool area, while a path ran behind it around the hotel. Sitting at both ends of the playground was a small white playhouse, one was used to store tricycles. However the several large pieces of play equipment available for children were old-fashioned and would not be found in a modern playground.
These were: Two tall shiny-metal slides, a merry-go-round, a mobile see-saw, metal jungle-gym, and a treehouse entered by climbing wooden logs of different heights with a spindly metal handrail. Rounding things out was a large sandbox and kiddie-pool, both with thick, rough cement sides.
ABOVE: Summer of 1967
A shallow ditch ran down the rear of the playground next to the path. This was a runoff channel from the Soda Spring farther up the road that terminated in a large drainpipe, visible at :30 in the video. During heavy rains the channel would fill to carry the overflow. The playground was replaced by a parking lot sometime before 2000. The opposite end of the cottage row reveals a more modern playground in use today.
BELOW: Summer of 1967