Crystal Maze

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Crystal Maze
Type Funhouse
Park Section Center
Built 1899
Opened 1899
Closed 1903
Length 40 ft (12 m)
Width 27 ft (8 m)
Number of Stories 1

The Crystal Maze was a mirror funhouse that opened at Olentangy Park in 1899[1] and closed around 1903.

Description

The building was a standalone structure that was 27 x 40 ft. (8 x 12 meters). Sixty 4 x 7 ft. (1.3 x 2.3 m) plate glass mirrors made the building appear much larger than it was. It created several reflections of the visitors that move in all directions. There were false doors, causing other visitors to laugh when someone ran into a pane of glass.[2][3]

Locations

Before being installed at Olentangy Park, a version of the Crystal Maze was at Cleveland's Euclid Beach for three years and was part of a growing fad at the time.[2] According to the 1901 Sanborn Map, the building was an enclosed frame structure just north of the footbridge next to the Shooting Gallery and southeast of the theater.[4]

See Also

References

  1. "Olentangy Park Started as Beer Garden in '90's." The Columbus Dispatch. 30 August 1931. Pg. 18-G.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Olentangy Park: The Crystal Maze." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 30 June 1899. Pg. 11. Retrieved from the Columbus Dispatch Digital Archives.
  3. "Olentangy Park: The Theater." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 1 July 1899. Pg. 12.
  4. 1901 Sanborn Map. Vol. 1. Sheet #63.