The Heritage Amusement Park -- the last remaining piece of Golden's beloved Heritage Square -- will close its doors for good on Saturday, June 30, marking the end of an era.
It's suffered a slow, slow death. In 2013, the Heritage Square Music Hall closed up shop, followed by Heritage Square's quaint Main Street shops and the ever-popular Alpine Slide just two years later, in 2015. And on Saturday evening, the happy squeals of generations of Colorado children will fall silent when the Heritage Amusement Park closes, too.
The amusement park announced its impending doom on social media and its website, saying that they have "reached a settlement" with their landlord Martin Marietta Materials, who also just so happens to own the quarry adjacent to the park. Their last day in business will be Saturday, June 30, closing at 7 p.m.
"It is now time to say a fond farewell to our home of almost two decades," the amusement park posted on both its website and Facebook page. "We are so grateful to our customers, employees, family & friends who have made the experience of running this Amusement Park so rewarding."
Courtesy of TripAdvisor
Tucked behind Green Mountain up against the Golden foothills, the Heritage Square park was first built in the late 1950s, inspired by Disneyland. The park was originally called Magic Mountain, and unable to garner any success close to its Disney counterpart, changed hands multiple times before finally finding its own identity and life as Heritage Square in the early '70s. In its heyday throughout the '80s and '90s, the park was locally famous for its independently-run artisan and souvenir shops, wedding chapel, amusement park, narrow gauge railroad, music theater, and -- of course -- its Alpine Slide. It was always free to park and walk into the square; you only had to pay for whatever activity or food you were there for.
I was 9 or 10 the first time I stepped foot into Heritage Square. Of course, I was smitten by its Victorian charm from the very first moment, returning many times over the years for birthday parties (my friends and I celebrated an 18th birthday by having one of those antique photographs taken there), Fourth of July picnics, and school homecoming celebrations. When I had a daughter, we made a point of traipsing across town a couple times a year for a Saturday afternoon musical theater show, an ice cream cone from the ice cream parlor, and a few kiddie rides.
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And then, one by one, the Heritage Square attractions started losing steam and closing down until only the amusement park and the Victorian House Event Center remained.
By all accounts, the Heritage Amusement Park itself expected just as recently as 2015 to be open until 2039, having signed a new lease and posting enthusiastic posts on Facebook promising that the park would be around for at least another generation of Colorado kids:
Courtesy of Facebook
Though we don't know for sure when the Victorian House Event Center closed, their last Facebook update was posted in 2016, and phone calls this week to their listed phone number were disconnected.
There's no official word on why the amusement park and its landlords came to a settlement, but with the Martin Marietta-owned quarry in operation next door, one can't help but wonder if the same fate awaits the land where the park now sits.
Want to bid Heritage Square a fond farewell? The amusement park is offering discounted family four-packs of unlimited ride passes for just $55 through the end of the week.
Do you have happy memories of Heritage Square? What do you think about its closure? Please leave a comment below!
