So when her first husband John took some of the money earned at his successful Elitch Palace restaurant (which had the longest bar in Denver at the time) and purchased sixteen acres of farmland, the focus was all plants and animals.“Elitch’s Zoological Gardens” opened for its inaugural season on May 1, 1890, and was quite profitable from the start.
A few years after the new Elitch Gardens opened, family-owned Knoebels in Elysburg, Pennsylvania seemed to think it was worth the expense, and expressed interest in purchasing and moving Mister Twister, which had been left standing at the former property. Record attendance was set three seasons later, and by the turn of the twentieth century Mary Elitch had expanded the property by a dozen acres and added several attractions.These included a penny arcade, narrow gauge railroad, and even a Civil War naval battle reenactment—in addition to upgrading the landscaping of the grounds and providing the electric lighting which was becoming more commonplace at this time.In 1904 the park gained its first wooden roller coaster, and two years later a Vintage postcard, second entrance to Elitch’s Gardens.It was actually competition from Denver’s nearby “White City” of Lakeside during the following decade that spurred Mary’s park on to even more lavish theming and attractions. Mary installed the park’s first ride in 1904. A look at the River Mile project, a proposed redevelopment of the 62-acre site where Elitch Gardens sits.
There are a few design nods to the Victorian era and specifically London’s Immediately across the way after remmerging in the sunlight is the park’s Elitch “Main Street” area, satellite view.
The Gurtler’s two sons took over in 1945 and by mid-century Elitch Gardens—like so many other small parks across the United States—had become swept up in the phenomenal success of Disneyland. The small LED lights strung across the rooftops of the “Main Street” area of Elitch Gardens were synchronized in an elaborate display with colored lighting on each and every building. DENVER (KDVR) — Later this week, the City and County of Denver will update residents about large gatherings in the city moving forward. One thing that might be on the table is a possible move for the Elitch Gardens theme park. The initial phase of development will make better use of the 17 acres of surface lots surrounding the theme park by building a central parking garage on the property.Elitch Gardens theme park will stay for now. It sounds like Elitch Gardens will get a new home and this valuable piece of real estate will be able to house a lot of people near downtown, reducing need for more sprawl. She considered the Gardens their greatest joint project, and was determined to press forward without him. If this isn’t an authentic sign from the period, it’s well-reproduced for sure.The Rustler’s Food Court building connects with a couple other exterior spaces. So right around the corner from these water rides, and just down the road from the Old West food court, right at the back edge of the park, is a classic wooden roller coaster which doesn’t seem to have a relationship to its environs at all.The original Elitch Gardens had installed a number of coaster rides over the decades, including A few years after the new Elitch Gardens opened, family-owned Elitch built an entirely fresh ten-story coaster from scratch at their new location instead, and unimaginatively called it Apart from the theming I’ve already covered, all that’s left are some disparate bits of amusement park charm scattered here and there, and some of the same sorts of vintage typography that This typical Theme Park Gingerbread looks like a food stand, but it’s actually one of two entrances to a rather unremarkable interactive dark ride called It’s rather fitting that it was dark by the time I strolled back through the “Main Street” area to exit Elitch Garden, because a permanent night might end up falling over the park—its future might be in jeopardy.Walking towards the exit of the park, I took my time. A look at the River Mile project, a proposed redevelopment of the 62-acre site where Elitch Gardens sits. Fifteen of the twenty major attractions at the former Gardens were transplanted, although the long history and charm of the original grounds was gone.
The project also includes access to the South Platte River, with a mile-long riverfront.The firm's long-term vision for the area will take place in multiple phases and will involve working closely with the community to meet city guidelines for downtown redevelopment, which include walkability, affordable housing, open spaces and connectivity. In August 2007, Six Flags sold Elitch Gardens for$170 million dollars. If we’re supposed to be in the “Old West” then what are these Colorado license plates from 1970 doing here?All the overdone propping spills out to the exteriors, especially on the roofs.Just a pile of junk, with hand-painted signs that look like they came from the bric-a-brac aisle at Target.There’s literally a stack like this on either side of every entrance and exit to the food court.There are what appear to be a few genuine antiques scattered throughout. I watch this go through several cycles; everything was bright and colorful, but the transitions were slow and subtle enough that the lighting wasn’t obnoxious. The typefaces appear to be from the The majority of the signage I saw was well done and on the more subtle side (read: not garish). Distinctive for being located in a downtown area, it is open April through October.