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Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, September 2026: Late summer, the first season on the new beach.

Lakeside · 2025–2026

Where the Wave Pool Was

Twelve flights, one patch of sky, and eighteen months in which an abandoned waterpark was handed back to the lake.

– 12 flights Simulated imagery

For eighteen summers the old waterpark on the south shore sat behind a chain-link fence, its wave pool going green at the deep end. Then the excavators came. Every six or seven weeks a drone returned to the same patch of sky to watch the shoreline come back: a public beach where the deep end was, a boardwalk where a dock had rotted, and a meadow where 135 cars used to park.

Aerial photography and story by the Lakeside Parks Conservancy Latest flight

The aerial imagery in this story is simulated: a demonstration of the format, not photographs of a real place.

The site

Eighteen summers behind a fence

The waterpark opened in 1988 on the south shore, a wave pool fanned toward the water so that swimmers could see the lake from the deep end. It closed after the 20071 season and never reopened. By the spring of 2025 the slide tubes had faded to pastel, cottonwoods were rooting in the walkways, and the pool held a single green puddle where the wave machines used to be.

The plan that replaced it is modest on paper: keep the two gatehouses, remove almost everything else, and give the shoreline back. A beach where the pool was. A boardwalk in place of the dock. A meadow on the half of the parking lot nobody had needed in years.

We used to hear it from the porch every August. Then for eighteen years we heard nothing at all.

A neighbor on the north shore, at the first public meeting

Twelve flights

Eighteen months from the same patch of sky

Scroll to fly the site forward in time. Every frame is aligned to the last flight.

  1. Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, April 2025: Before. The park as it was left in 2007.
    01 / 12

    April 2025. Weeds split the old lot. The wave pool is dry except for its deep end, and four slide tubes still coil off a single concrete tower.

  2. Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, July 2025: The slides, the lazy river and two buildings are gone.
    03 / 12

    July. In ten weeks the slides, the lazy river and two buildings are gone. Concrete is sorted into piles to be crushed on site; it will go back under the new paths.

  3. Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, October 2025: Graded from curb to shore; half the lot is torn out.
    05 / 12

    October. Graded from the curb to the reeds. The basin is backfilled, the west half of the lot is stripped to earth, and orange survey paint marks where the promenades will run.

  4. Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, January 2026: Deep freeze. The lot is repaved; the boardwalk begins.
    07 / 12

    January. Under snow the plan is legible for the first time: the curving promenades, the round plaza between the gatehouses, a ring of paving where the splash pad will spray.

  5. Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, May 2026: Sod goes down west to east; the beach gets its sand.
    09 / 12

    May. Sod goes down in strips from west to east. Sand fills the old fan of the wave pool, and the first of 78 trees2 go into the ground along the paths.

  6. Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, September 2026: Late summer, the first season on the new beach.
    12 / 12

    September. The deep end is now the shallow end of a beach.

  1. The slide tower

    Four tubes off one tower, demolished in the first summer.

  2. The wave pool, then the beach

    The same fan-shaped footprint, backfilled and topped with sand.

  3. The gatehouses

    Kept from 1988, re-roofed in standing-seam bronze in the second winter.

  4. Boardwalk and slips

    138 meters of boardwalk3 along the shore, and eight slips where the old dock collapsed.

  5. Lot to meadow

    135 parking spaces4, returned to coneflower and little bluestem.

Before and after

Seventeen months apart

Drag the line. Left is April 2025; right is September 2026.

Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, April 2025: Before. The park as it was left in 2007.
Before
Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, September 2026: Late summer, the first season on the new beach.
After

  1. The old park, as it was left in 2007.

  2. The fan of the wave pool survives as the outline of the beach.

  3. The new park, in its first late summer.

  1. Pool to beach
  2. Gatehouse, kept
  3. Dock to boardwalk

By the numbers

What changed

  • 12 drone flights, every six to seven weeks Flight logs
  • 135 parking spaces returned to meadow Site plan
  • 13,100sq ft of wave pool, now beach and splash pad Site plan
  • 770m of new paths and promenade Site plan
  • 78 young trees planted along the paths Planting plan
  • 8 boat slips off a new 138-meter boardwalk Site plan

Timeline

Sixty-four years on the south shore

  1. 1962

    A farm pond becomes a swimming lake

    Complete
  2. 1988

    The waterpark opens

    Complete

    A wave pool fanned toward the water, a lazy river, and four slides off one tower.

  3. Labor Day 2007

    The last season

    Complete
  4. 2023

    The City of Lakeside buys the shore

    Complete
  5. May 30, 2025

    Fences up, demolition begins

    Complete
    Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, May 2025: Fences go up; the first machines arrive.
  6. Sept. 5, 2025

    The wave pool is backfilled

    Complete
    Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, September 2025: The wave pool is broken up and backfilled.
  7. Jan. 31, 2026

    Paths poured, the lot repaved under snow

    Complete
    Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, January 2026: Deep freeze. The lot is repaved; the boardwalk begins.
  8. May 9, 2026

    Sod, sand and the first trees

    Complete
    From over the water, looking back at the beach, May 2026: Sod goes down west to east; the beach gets its sand.
  9. Aug. 1, 2026

    Opening day

    Complete

    The fence comes down on Aug. 1, 20265.

    From over the water, looking back at the beach, August 2026: A week after opening day.
  10. Spring 2027

    Kayak rentals at the boat launch

    Planned

The last summer evening of the old park

Late May 2025, from over the water. The slide tower still stands; the fence is already up.

May 30, 2025, 6:15 p.m. Shoreline vantage, hovering at 74 meters.

Explore

Your turn

Pick any two flights and compare them, or scrub through all twelve from either vantage.

Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake · 12 flights

  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, April 2025: Before. The park as it was left in 2007.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, May 2025: Fences go up; the first machines arrive.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, July 2025: The slides, the lazy river and two buildings are gone.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, September 2025: The wave pool is broken up and backfilled.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, October 2025: Graded from curb to shore; half the lot is torn out.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, December 2025: First snow. The promenades and the plaza are poured.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, January 2026: Deep freeze. The lot is repaved; the boardwalk begins.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, March 2026: Thaw. New roofs on the gatehouses.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, May 2026: Sod goes down west to east; the beach gets its sand.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, June 2026: Finished, and still fenced, a month before opening.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, August 2026: A week after opening day.
  • Over the old parking lot, looking north to the lake, September 2026: Late summer, the first season on the new beach.

From over the water, looking back at the beach · 10 flights

  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, April 2025: Before. The park as it was left in 2007.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, May 2025: Fences go up; the first machines arrive.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, July 2025: The slides, the lazy river and two buildings are gone.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, September 2025: The wave pool is broken up and backfilled.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, October 2025: Graded from curb to shore; half the lot is torn out.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, March 2026: Thaw. New roofs on the gatehouses.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, May 2026: Sod goes down west to east; the beach gets its sand.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, June 2026: Finished, and still fenced, a month before opening.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, August 2026: A week after opening day.
  • From over the water, looking back at the beach, September 2026: Late summer, the first season on the new beach.

About this story

A demonstration of Vantage. The site, the organizations, the people quoted and every figure are fictional; the drone footage was generated by a computer, not flown.

An aerial progress story for the Lakeside Parks Conservancy.

Partners

  • OwnerCity of Lakeside
  • Landscape ArchitectureField & Form Studio
  • General ContractorNorthcoast Builders

How this was made

  • All imagery is simulated. Places, organizations and people are fictional.
  • Logos are original artwork made for this demo and represent no real organization.
  • Aerial frames are aligned to the 2026-09-20 flight and color-matched halfway, so the seasons still show.

Notes

  1. 2007Lakeside Parks Conservancy project brief (fictional)
  2. 78 treesSynthetic site plan (vantage.demo.synth layout)
  3. 138 meters of boardwalkSynthetic site plan (vantage.demo.synth layout)
  4. 135 parking spacesSynthetic site plan (vantage.demo.synth layout)
  5. Aug. 1, 2026Lakeside Parks Conservancy project brief (fictional)

Sources

  • Imagery: procedural drone footage from vantage.demo.synth (seed 7)
  • Site plan, figures and quotations: invented for this demo

Flight log

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