Celebrity Sports Center was a Disney owned, family entertainment center located at 888 S Colorado Blvd in Denver Co. (actually Glendale Co) The 2 main features were 88 lanes of bowling (36 on one side and 44 on the other) and an Olympic size indoor pool. The center was demolished in the 90’s. Looks like there is a home depot and some stores there now. There used to be a McDonald’s on the corner across the street, looks like a bmw dealer now. Behind where the home depot is now was Figaro’s, a little pizza/beer place.
	Besides the pool and bowling, the Celebrity Sports Center also had a bar with food service called the Hofbrau. It was located on the 44 side next to the rental counter. On the other side of the rental counter (Colorado Blvd side) was the pool hall. At least 8 full sized tables, it had a window that looked out into the pool. On the other side of the Hofbrau, was the soda shop. It sold quick service snack items, they seemed to staff it with the least qualified hosts! Next was the stairs that lead to the pool and fun center. There was also a pro shop for bowling. In the far corner between 36 and 44 was the receptionist cage, it was glass enclosed like a zoo exhibit.
	I got my job at celebrity sports center, Denver Colorado in December 1976. I took it because it was one place I could get 40 hours in a week while going to school. I worked 5:30 to 2am, the graveyard shift. It worked out well for me, pay was less than $3 an hour but I still made enough to pay all my bills and come home with an extra car in tow! The place had enormous turnover, people were always coming and going. It was a very busy place and must have turned quite a profit. I think for one dollar you could spend all day in the pool! The arcade would suck your money like no ones business!
	My job was pool maintenance, (janitor), I was the only one in the building without a costume. The job was simple enough, use the wally, (pressure washer) to clean the deck of the pool and locker rooms. Do the laundry, towels and swim suits that were rented. Keep an eye on the pool water and filtering functions. For the record, 78 is cold 81 is hot. It was rumored to hold 500,000 gallons of water. I learned about Chloramine, that happens to the chlorine in the pool when kids pee in it. To fix this situation meant super chlorination, and it took a while to do it, and, get it back to normal. The people in the pool that night were burning! I didn’t vacuum the pool though, that was left for the guards to do. Same thing for pearl diving, that is when someone leaves a turd in the pool, ala caddyshack. We were the only Disney employees that were allowed to yell at the guests.
	For a time there was a weight room in the pool, it didn’t seem to last long. It was fun watching women in bathing suits work out. That room, had a door that lead to the loading dock, there was a large scale there. I had keys to everything so I was all over the place. Next to the weight room was the heat and ac room. The men’s locker room had a steam room in it, don’t know why, seemed pretty useless. The woman’s locker room had one of those belt vibrator things, also useless. At the Colorado Blvd end of the pool was the machine room where the pumps and filters were. Above that was a small sun deck that was never opened as far as I can remember.
	The pool and fun center were located in the basement, there was a rear parking lot that was on the fun center level. The fun center was filled with pinball machines, and the latest video games. There was a row of about 8 skeeball machines and an air powered shooting gallery. The gallery was loathed by everyone that worked there, it seldom worked and was always a pain in the ass. There was a center island where the fun center workers lived. They sold pojo games and redeemed skeeball tickets for little junky prizes. There was a hidden door next to the skeeball that led to the garage and workshop. At the end of the fun center was a door that led to the break room, they had cocoa in there, I’d mix it with water from the fountain for a ghetto yoohoo! Past the break room led to the hall way that led to the arcade mechanics lair. It also was where a few store rooms were and where the pa was for closing announcements.
	Pojo was this horrible game that took up massive floor space. It was essentially miniature golf without the fun played with pool balls and cues. You played all the holes and on the last hole it would keep your ball. To retrieve the cue balls you had to crawl under the machine and unlock the trap. It was endlessly amusing for hosts to dump tons of balls in while you were trying to unload it. I played it a few times, never saw any appeal. Nor did I see any appeal with foosball. I had never seen it before Celebrity, it was very popular with the camel jockeys from the air force academy down in Colorado Springs.
	They tried to do disco nights in the fun center, putting up curtains and getting a dj. It failed miserably, but could have worked. The whole place could be rented for night owl parties. (There is a sample of one of the orders in the picture section)
	Those were the places I hung out! They also had day care too, in the 70’s, day care! On the 36 side there was a training room too. You had to watch movies on how to be a Disney employee before you could work there. I don’t remember if it was video tape or real film? The intro was the same thing you see at the Walt Disney story here at Disney World. It went on to tell about Walt’s idea of a clean cut family friendly place where visitors were guests. Employees were hosts and hostesses. Proper grooming was stressed, hair was “out of the eyes and over the ears”. The place was always to be clean and tidy.