Croydon Water Palace

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Water Palace, Purley Way, Croydon 1990-1996 Water palace croydon.jpg
Water Palace, Purley Way, Croydon 1990-1996

The Croydon Water Palace was an indoor water park complex that opened in 1990 on Purley Way in Waddon in the London Borough of Croydon, opposite Croydon Airport. It featured four water slides, a large jacuzzi area, a lazy river and a wave pool using an artificial wave-making machine. There was also an on-site café. It was part of the Purley Way retail development drive that occurred in the early 1990s, which also saw the creation of the Valley Park Retail Area.

The Water Palace experienced continuous financial difficulties, and finally closed in 1996. [1] Throughout its lifespan, the Water Palace was renowned for poor health and safety, and several accidents were publicised in the local press, [2] although these were not the direct reasons for its closure.

After closure, the site was sold for nearly £24m. [3] It was then redeveloped in the late 1990s to become the Colonnades Leisure Park.

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References

  1. "Croydon Kids Leisure Water Adventure". Croydon Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  2. "How A Glittering Palace Was Sunk". News Shopper. 20 June 1998.
  3. "Remembering Water Palace, the epic splash park in Croydon everyone from East Surrey went to". Surrey Live. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.

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