Doling Park has been a popular picnic, caving and swimming destination for generations of Springfieldians since James Marshall Doling purchased Giboney Cave and the surrounding 40 acres in 1883. In the early 1900s, private investors added an amusement park with a roller skating rink, dance hall, bandstand, ball fields, penny arcade, boat rentals and Shoot-the-Chutes, a multi-story outdoor slide which people rode with flat-bottomed boats into Doling Lake. The Park Board purchased Doling Park in 1929, and though the amusement park was dismantled, the skating rink continued to operate through the 1960s. Today Doling Park is home to Doling Family Center, Northview Center and the Doling Museum, dedicated to the park’s colorful past. The 56-acre park also includes playground equipment, a paved walk around Doling Lake, tennis courts, ball field, picnic shelter, horseshoe pits, bocce courts and a trail head for The Link. Occasional tours of Giboney Cave are available through Outdoor Initiatives.