Grand Opening Thursday, May 28th, 1914 There will be high and low flying exhibitions every hour on the hour, staring at 10 a. m. opening day. This new amusement park combining both the fun and thrills of the air and water covers some 1,000 acres of land and 2,000 acres of the Wolf River. The park's main entrance was located where Indianapolis Boulevard intersects with the Wolf River. Plans for the park were first announced in mid March 1914. Construction on the park started quickly in early April of the same year. With the park scheduled to open in just two months, much work needed to be completed. Hangers for the aeroplanes and flying boats need to be built. Plans call for a large number of concessions to be located south of a 30 foot promenade walkway which extends from one end of the park to the other. A minature railroad will also be one of the attractions as well. Other park amenities include music, boating, a captive balloon, a merry-go-round, German beer garden with Cabaret.

Jinxed from the begining Upon its opening the Athey Hydro Park was doomed from the very start. Many of the shows and attractions were not up and running. Those who attended the grand opening of the park were nearly eaten alive or carried away by the swarms of mosquitoes who made the tall thickets of grass their home. To help remedy this problem the park builder and operator I. H. Athey purchased a dozen barrels of oil from the nearby Standard Oil Company and saturated the river banks with it. Don't let the EPA get wind of this!

On Sunday July 6th, 1914, the park was largely destroyed by a fire from a discarded cigar butt thrown over the fence from Indianapolis Boulevard, which fell on the roof of the German Village Beer Garden. Then the fire spread to a large tent and burned the tent and its entire contents. The fire spread so rapidly that the tent burned in less that ten minutes. This concession area made up a large portion of the park's buildings. None of the rides and hangers for the hydroplanes and aeroplanes were damaged by the flames.

On July, 25th 1914 a horrific electrical storm swept through Lake County at midnight, gale force winds lifted a hanger up off of the ground destroying it and several planes that were housed in it. Three men who were in the hanger at the time miraculously escaped without much harm.

One of the final blows to the park came on Sunday August 24th, 1914 during another storm, when a strong gust of wind struck a large electric arch located at the entrance to the park. The arch was blown down to the ground and demolished along with part of the large fence that surrounds the park. Many of the promised aerial exhibitions and stunts never materialized, because something would always happen to stop the flights.

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Source information from The Times microfilms located at the Hammond Public Library
Graphic illustration also from The Times microfilms.
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