Cape Coral Gardens

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In the late 1950's two brothers, Leonard and Jack Rosen, began to transform a vast landscape of swamp, scrub, and pasture located across the Caloosahatchee River from Ft. Myers into the housing development of Cape Coral, Florida. They bulldozed acres of trees, dug miles of canals, built a network of roads, and laid out thousands of residential building lots -- for which they then needed thousands of new home buyers to come to purchase. One of the many ways they enticed potential residents to come over to the Cape for a looksee was to build a tourist attraction, Cape Coral Gardens, with hopes that some of the tourists it attracted would then buy a home and stay. Cape Coral Gardens opened its gates in 1964 and included porpoise shows, a rose garden, animal exhibits, and Gunter Przystawik's "Waltzing Waters" dancing fountain shows. As the city grew the garden's waterfront land became more and more valuable until the attraction was dismantled and the area turned into an upscale residential neighborhood. Waltzing Waters and some of the garden's other attractions then found a new home at Waltzing Waters Aquarama.

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