Post #454164 by GatorRob on Fri, May 15, 2009 9:42 AM

Great research Mo-Eye! Looks like more pieces to the puzzle. Back when I went exploring over there, I had no idea the Volcano might have been part of a much larger complex. You would never know it now. I didn't spot anything remotely Polynesian in style over there except the A-frame. And there is nothing between the A-frame building and the lake.

It does seem baffling that so much money would have been poured into a place at this location. Now, before Interstate 4 was completed, the main road between Tampa and Orlando must have been Hwy 17-92, which runs right through the middle of Winter Haven and just to the north of the Volcano site by a few blocks. So at that time I can understand a place like the Volcano popping up there. After all, the Mai-Kai was located way out in the middle of nowhere in 1956, but it was on Federal Hwy, a main artery through south Florida before I-95 was built.

But I-4 was completed from Tampa to Orlando in 1962, which is before this complex that preceded the Volcano was built. And I'm sure the interstate took years to complete with lots of publicity, so obviously these guys knew about it. Maybe what they didn't realize was how much of an impact the interstates would make on highway travel. It seems likely, because they sure didn't last long.