Peony Park

Founded in 1919, over the next seventy-five years the 35-acre (140,000 m2) park included a 4.5-acre (18,000 m2) pool, beach and waterslide, a ballroom that billed itself as "1 acre under one roof," an open-air dance area for 3000 dancers, amusement rides, and various sundries.

[3] Peony Park was begun by local entrepreneurs Godfrey Malec, and brothers Jerry and Joe Sr. in 1919 with the help of investor Frank Srb, a family member and business man from Dodge, Nebraska.

[5] In the 1980s, Omaha's Italian community began holding their annual celebration called La Festa Italiana at the park, and continued until its closure.

[6] Continuing racial tension in Omaha led to youth activists leading protests which brought down the color barrier at the park and added to the civil rights movement in the city.

[7][8] The Omaha Star newspaper made a name for itself during this period, mixing "light news" and entertainment with articles about the incident, segregationist policies around the city and the ongoing trial.

In 1983 there was an endurance competition in which the winner, a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, slid down the four-story water slide at Peony Park 1,710 times in 87 hours and 19 minutes.

For winning he won $1,300, a 1950 vintage Coke machine, a moped, waterbed, stereo and other prizes offered by radio station Sweet 98 (KQKQ-FM), sponsor of the event.

[12] The ballroom also hosted events with Metallica, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Replacements, Living Colour, 311, The Violent Femmes, and The Bangles in its later years.

[10] From 1978 through 1981, Omaha radio station KOIL hosted an outdoor dance party that was called "Under the Stars" in the Royal Grove, which was broadcast live.