Indianola Park Indianola Park was an amusement park that operated in the University District in Columbus , Ohio from 1905 - 37 . Location . The entrance to Indianola Park was at N . 4th St . and E . 19th Ave . The park itself covered approximately and extended from E . 18th Ave . north to E . Norwich Ave . and east from N . 4th St . to the Big Four railroad tracks . History . Indianola Park was established in 1905 by dentist - turned - developer Charles Miles ( 1866 - 1939 ) . Miles was president of the Summit Land Company , which developed residential neighborhoods in the former farmland across High Street from The Ohio State University . The success of Coney Island ’ s new Luna Park and his own experience using recreations to draw buyers inspired Miles to go into the amusement park business . The park was designed by amusement park impresario Frederick Ingersoll who also designed Pittsburgh and Cleveland ’ s Luna Parks . Indianola Park opened its gates to the public on Thursday , June 8 , 1905 . 1900s & 1910s . In its original configuration , the park featured a dance pavilion , a mammoth swimming pool , an Ingersoll Figure 8 Roller Coaster , a carousel , a scenic railroad , a band shell , a restaurant and snack stands , picnic grounds , and athletic playing fields . In 1908 , a theater was added to the park and Indianola began presenting vaudeville for its patrons . For the next 15 years , the park entertained visitors with everything from Shakespeare plays and Grecian dancers to circus animals and diving horses . Events like balloon ascensions , high wire acts , outdoor motion pictures , live presentations of distant sporting events , baby beauty pageants , and massive fireworks extravaganzas were also part of the park ’ s draw . For the 1909 season , the park underwent major renovations . A shoot - the - chutes ride , The Blue Streak roller coaster , and a “ Human Laundry ” funhouse were added . The band shell area was also expanded . From 1909 - 15 , Indianola was home field for the Columbus Panhandles , an early professional football team . Indianola enjoyed sustained popularity through the 1910s . Crowds as large as 10 , 000 flocked to the park on summer weekends . As many as 5 , 000 people could be found enjoying the pool on hot summer days . Buoyed by the national dance craze launched by Irene and Vernon Castle , the dance pavilion did brisk business all year round . 1920s . In 1923 , the park underwent a change in management . The new owners invested thousands of dollars in renovations . For weeks before opening day , advertisements trumpeted “ A Greater Indianola ” and “ The Biggest Year of All . ” The dance pavilion was remodeled for The Jazz Age . Repairs were made to the swimming pool . The locker areas were expanded . New amusements were added : The Thriller roller coaster , seaplane circle swings , a caterpillar ride , and Custer Cars . Indianola also became much more aggressive in advertising and promotions . The park gradually dropped vaudeville and band concerts . The dance pavilion orchestra was replaced with local and touring jazz bands favored by flappers and their beaus . The Phil Baxter ’ s Texas Tommies and Tom Howard ’ s Melody Lads were the two most popular bands . The park continued to do well into the mid - 1920s but the days of the urban amusement park were numbered . Radio and motion pictures were growing in popularity and costing parks visitors . The greater mobility offered by the automobile increased consumers ’ recreation possibilities at the expense of the amusement parks . In 1927 , perhaps in response to changing conditions , the park sold its land north of E . 19th Ave . to the Columbus Board of Education for the construction of a new school . Indianola Junior High School opened in 1929 and remained a school until 2009 . 1930s . Reduced to just its core of the dance pavilion and the pool , Indianola soldiered on into the 1930s . The Great Depression made a challenging situation even more so . Few people had money to spare for a day at the amusement park . The record hot summers of the early 1930s helped keep the park afloat during the lean years . Temperatures in the upper 90s for weeks on end convinced people to take a dip in the pool who otherwise might have passed The hot summers only delayed the inevitable . After the 1937 season , Indianola closed for good . After Indianola Park . In 1948 , Indianola Park was converted into a shopping center . The pool was filled in and paved over for a parking lot . A dozen or so shops and restaurants were built around its perimeter . The former dance pavilion became an Ohio Food Giant supermarket . The mall thrived for decades but by the 1990s , it had seen better days . By the early 2000s , most of the storefronts were empty and the mall was deteriorating . In 2006 , Xenos Christian Fellowship purchased Indianola Park Shopping Center . The mall was massively rehabbed and the old dance pavilion was converted into a worship center , which opened in 2007 . External links . Indianola Park : Indianola Park Entrance : Indianola Park Dance Pavilion and Pool : Indianola Park Dance Pavilion :