The History Behind Green Lake’s Grandstand
Green Lake's abandoned Aqua Theater once dazzled
By Jake Laycock July 26, 2016
This article originally appeared in the August 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.
Strolling around Green Lake these days is generally a peaceful pursuit, with most of the action coming from kids playing in the water, kayakers paddling by or the occasional family of ducks flapping around. But at the lake’s southwestern edge, you’ll find the remnants of a historic theater that made a real splash in its day.
The Green Lake Aqua Theater was built to host the Aqua Follies, a whimsical water-dance attraction that took place during the Seafair summer festival from 1950 to 1964. Although the popularity of those “swim-musicals” waned, the theater continued to be used for other entertainment, such as jazz festivals, plays, musicals and concerts, including legendary performances by Led Zeppelin and The Grateful Dead in 1969. That same summer, officials declared the theater’s grandstand unstable, and most of it was dismantled the following year.
Today, only part of the original 5,600-seat grandstand remains, used primarily for fitness follies, with joggers running up and down its stairs, and visitors climbing to the top to take in the view.
PHOTO: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle. Aqua Follies performers in 1961.
PHOTO: Joe Mabel. Today, only a single section of the original grandstand remains.
Follow Us
Holiday Hunt in Pioneer Square
A daily ornament drop turns December into a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt.
The holidays tend to bring out the kid in all of us. And if opening presents and eating too many treats weren’t enough, there’s also a scavenger hunt in Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. Pioneer Square’s Holiday Ornament Scavenger Hunt has returned for its third year. Twenty-five handblown glass ornaments—all made at Glasshouse Studio—are hidden across 25…
Chit-Chat Kids
Phone a friend.
Twenty years ago, before everyone walked around with a device in their pocket, kids used to call each other on a landline—often tethered to the kitchen in their home. It was a simpler time, when parents didn’t have to worry (nearly as much) about a potential predator contacting their child. Nowadays, things are different, which…
A Plate for Pickleball
The design celebrates the state’s official sport. Additional plates are on the way.
Washington served up a new license plate last week, honoring the state sport of pickleball. In the works for three years, it’s the second of seven specialty plates to hit the market since getting approved by lawmakers earlier this year. “We’re thrilled to see our efforts become reality,” says Kate Van Gent, vice president of…
Seattle-Based Agency Brings Real Voices to NBC’s New Campaign
DNA&STONE built the project around candid conversations to understand what audiences want from reporting.
“I turned off news altogether. I want to be able to form my own opinions. Just tell the truth.” These lines open NBC News’ new national campaign, a 60-second ad that drifts over forests, farms, neighborhoods, and cityscapes while Americans talk about how worn out they feel by the news. The landscape carries the conversation…