This little building along the lake is a remnant of SeaWorld of Ohio. It’s located in the old Shamu’s Happy Harbor area, along Geauga Lake’s shoreline. I’m not sure why it was left standing when most of the rest of the Happy Harbor was razed. Perhaps it has offices in it or something useful.
If you saw the Summer Nights laser light show in the 1980s or 1990s, then you saw this building. I’ve said before on the site that SeaWorld of Ohio was best at night. The night show was full of lasers, fireworks, and at times some goofy acting. This was all set to a mix of current radio and a nostalgia music soundtrack. This building was adjacent to the Water Ski Stadium, but far enough away that the roof was covered with mirrors that made the laser lights jump all over the place.
These shows are pretty common at theme parks, but there’s one other thing that’s notable. SeaWorld of Ohio was usually busier for this show than earlier in the evening. The park generally cleared out after 6pm each day. Folks headed back to Indiana and Michigan and southern Ohio to get home before dark. A few thousand stayed for the night shows. At 10pm, something else happened. The park opened its gates for local residents for free admission.
Free. No charge.
A few hundred guests would show up on the weekend nights to take in the late laser and music show. I’m not a theme park expert, but I’ve never heard of another park that let people in for free. Such a thing would be impossible in the age of the internet. It was a well kept secret, and I wouldn’t have known it for sure except that my sister worked in Admissions and saw it for herself.
The point was that SeaWorld was setting off fireworks every night and shooting lasers over everyone’s homes and they needed to build a little goodwill. Maybe you were there. If you were, I hope you had fun. We (the employees) sure did.