Olentangy Park question for Columbusites

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Olentangy Park was located north of Ohio State, about where University Village (Olentangy River Road and Ackerman Road) is now.

My brother told me that the old pool at the park was retained, and is now the pool at an apartment complex. Does anyone know which complex it is, and exactly where it is? Thanks.

Olentangy Park was located in the present location of Olentangy Village Apartments (not University Village)in Clintonville, just off High Street, north of Ohio State. They tore out some parking shelters last year and built a new pool. The old pool was dug out and filled in and a new set of apartments built. They're set to open at the end of the summer. I don't know if the pool they took out was the original pool from Olentangy Park. I heard that it was - kind of a shame if it's true.

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everything's better with a banjo

The carousel from Olentangy Park was purchased by Mr. Floyd Gooding, owner of the Gooding Amusement Co.(one of the largest carnival companies in the midwest) and operator of Gooding's Zoo Amusements. It was at the latter that this machine operated untill recently. When Mr. Gooding passed away during the winter of 1973 the carousel was deeded to the city of Columbus. It remained at the park, now called Wyandot Lake Park, untill last year I believe, when it was removed form there, restored and installed in a new climate controlled building at the Columbus Zoo. *** This post was edited by Dutchman on 7/6/2001. ***

From what I've read, several rides and buildings were moved from Olentangy Park to what is now Wyandot Lake. Do any of these, besides the carousel, still exist? The only ride at Wyandot that seems likely is the Monsoon (frolic) and perhaps the building that houses the arcade. I've also heard that the gate to the parking lot at the zoo/Wyandot is the original entrance gate to Olentangy Park. Looking at pictures, the current gate looks nothing like the Olentangy gate.

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everything's better with a banjo

There is no parking gate at the Zoo/Wyandot Lake.
Dutchman is correct about the carousel; it was last spring that the Wyandot Lake carousel...indeed, the Mangels/Ilions portable machine from Olentangy Park...was moved to the Zoo. What I want to know is why the Zoo had the carousel running by Memorial Day but Wyandot Lake didn't get their new carousel working until almost Labor Day.

At Wyandot Lake, the best candidate for an old Olentangy Park building would be the one with the arcade in it.

Does anybody know for certain when Olentangy Park closed? I've found that the land was annexed to the City of Columbus in 1940 and that LeVeque had 6,439.19 feet of private sewer constructed on the property in 1940, which is interesting because the property maps I've looked at indicate that the L. L. LeVeque company didn't buy the property until 7/11/1947. It appears that some of the property at least was purchased by the Olentangy Corporation in 1938, but I think the park must have still been operating then as one of the plots shows "Olentangy Amusement Co. 7/26/38".

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Who has spent a couple of afternoons looking at old Columbus plat maps...

"There is no parking gate at the Zoo/Wyandot Lake."

What do you call that thing you stop at to fork over the $2?

Old Columbus plat maps are probably more accurate but the following site claims that Olentangy Park closed in 1937:
http://www.clintonville.com/history/h_olenpk.html

The same information can be found in last years (2000)[iClintonville Community Directory which has a painting of the Archway Building from Olentangy Apartments on the cover.

The web site of Olentangy Village says that the apartments were built in 1939
http://www.olentangyvillage.com/general_history.htm

There is mention of the pool towards the bottom of this page:
http://columbuslandmarks.org/Tour.html

There are some more pictures of the park here:
http://www.cohums.ohio-state.edu/history/Old_Columbus/rec.htm
*** This post was edited by millrace on 7/7/2001. ***