Springlake Amusement Park

Springlake Amusement Park was an amusement park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was originally established in 1922 (some sources say 1924) by Roy Staton about six years after his spring-fed pond at NE 40th and Eastern (now Martin Luther King Blvd) had been open to swimmers and picnickers. Staton expanded the park with the addition of many rides acquired from the defunct Bell Isle Park and construction of a ballroom. In 1929 he added the Big Dipper roller coaster, which would be a fixture in the park for the next fifty years. Admission was free and the rides and pool were pay-as-you-go, so visitors could picnic by the lake at no cost. The park was popular throughout the 1950s and 1960s and it attracted many of the top entertainers of the era, including Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Righteous Brothers, Roy Acuff and Conway Twitty. A race riot in 1971, change in ownership, poor maintenance, and a devastating fire led to the park's demise. The property was purchased in 1981 by the Oklahoma City Vo-Tech Board and the Metro Technology Center was constructed on the site. Of the original park structures, only the amphitheater remains; a car from the Big Dipper and many photos of the park are on display at Metro Tech.