The article has been edited regarding private property abutting Pleasureland
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Pleasureland is cool. Go and explore it before summer ends, and again with the autumn colors, and again when winters white blanket covers the ground. One entrance can be found walking along the sidewalk past Portobello’s until an opening in the fence appears (across from ShopRite parking lot).
The Journal wrote previously about Pleasureland Past, Present….and now with the municipal purchase it’s possible to hike past, present and future.
The open space property known as Pleasureland is cool. While the large swimming pool that welcomed summer swimmers is now plowed over, there is still an air of mystery that follows you through the winding trails of the former water park. Nature has reclaimed the property with trees and brush growing through paved paths, a hidden bridge, a swimming hole buried in a carpet of green algae; but the fond memories of past continue to linger in the air.
Traversing a lot of the property does not take any particular skill. It is relatively flat with intersecting trails that lead through shaded woods and sunny fields. A variety of fauna and wild life are at home along the brook or the river.
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monkey bars past
Picnic on a picnic table
All of the old buildings have been torn down, and hikers would have to keep alert to spot relics from the past.
Owning the latest gadgets does not make you cool. Wearing the latest fashions does not make you cool. Driving the coolest car does not make you cool. Cool is what you make it. Oakland may never be home to celebrity mansions, or home to blue blooded socialites, but Oakland can be cool.
Pleasureland is cool, hike it now before the cool is gone.
We removed some images that infringed on private property, but thanks to a suggestion from reader “Duke Livingston”, we have replaced them with some new ones. Below are images of the Pleasureland pool past, the way it is today, and the suggestion envisioned by the Duke
prior to recent plowing over
same area today
What a great article. At a time when our history and preservation are being discussed, along comes another part of Oakland’s history, only on the south side of town. As paraphrased from the author, Pleasureland could be a place preserved without multi-million dollar renovations, master plans or giant sewer projects. A passive recreation area with walking trails would be, cool!
Pleasureland is a piece of Oakland property wanting to re-become a park. I have been working hard to bring a dog park to Oakland and this is the property to do it. I love the ideas I’ve heard by putting a river walk from there to the Rec Fields and an idea Mayor Szabo told me which was to set aside an area for a nature preserve talking about the types of plants, animals, and other forms of life by a river for the younger kids to enjoy like the park in Wyckoff. I do also agree with the Mayor that part of this needs to remain in its natural state to help with flood runoff. I think that the article brings up a good point with the old building remaining and that it can be used, but I’d make sure that it is sturdy and up to code.
According to one of my first polls when I asked people what should go by the Pleasureland property, my top 3 responses were a river path, a town pool, and a dog park. Once the Van Allen/Stream House is dealt with and the flooding problem starts to improve, we need to turn to this piece of property. For all we know, Pleasureland may hold some answers to how we can solve our flooding problem.
The dog run sounds good, but a preserve, a river walk, and lot of other stuff sounds very expensive. Looks like we can do something without writing a bunch of big checks and waiting till I’m dead and buried to get something done.
Too bad they didn’t keep those pools up. It would have been a nice skate board area. Before the mayor tries to take credit on this piece of property let’s see him do things without using all our money.
I’ve been a supporter of Ryan’s proposal for a dog run from way back. It’s a great idea and hopefully sooner rather than later.
But I also agree with Joe Oakland, and to quote George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life, “Wait? Wait for what? Until their children grow up and leave them?”
Duke’s idea of a skateboard park in the old pool is something I never thought of….and yeah, that would have been really cool.
The reference to not costing a lot of money is a bit skewed (assumed cross reference to the Stream House), as the Pleasureland property a) has only been in existence less than 100 years; and b) the borough wants to use as “Open Space” and therefore doesn’t need a lot in restoration or repairs. To compare the two places is a bit unfair, in my opinion. Both are important to Oakland’s history – let’s do what we can to preserve both, and come up with creative ways to do so…
Thanks for the updated info on the property – I think it would be interesting now to compare the difference between ownership of both properties and how that translates to differences in care. It would also help to offer possible solutions given the two differences, so that residents have complete information to draw conclusions on what is best for the properties. That would be really cool!
Love the skate park. When we were on the rec commission, Steve was working on a skate park/bike park plan. He had all the donors lined up so it wouldn’t cost the town anything. One of our ideas was to have the pools retro-fitted so they could be transformed into skate board pools. Our continued plan was to work with the enviromental commission and locate walking trails while keeping the Pleasureland property in it’s natural state. Then place the rest of the bike park somewhere at the rec complex; all with no tax payer dollars. This would have been cool.
Totally love Ryan’s dog run idea!
In an old crossroads Mayors report it states: “The potential to redevelop the Pleasureland pool area appears viable, but more study will be done. The plans include a walking/jogging path around the entire site and in the
future connect it to the Recreation Complex…We are also thinking about a soccer/football field, a baseball/softball field and a skate park. A restroom/concession stand would also be included. The passive area might also include fishing areas and a boat launch.”
If this was a true viability why did they fill it in? The skate park idea is great. When did they fill in the pool? Why didn’t they reuse it for the skate park? I wonder who will get the contract to build this?
I have fond memories of pleasureland and mullers park.We moved to Oakland in 61 Walton and parents left in 93. IN 60’S 1ST Joined mullers, remember cold water reaching furthest rafts. family named nuckles owned it, then in early 70’s pleasureland cook our super high dive made your knees shake doing flips. too bad what happened