Editing Garden City, Kansas (section)

===Points of interest===
[[File:Swimmers in Garden City, KS IMG 5879.JPG|thumb|Swimmers at "The Big Pool" on a {{convert|100|F|C}} afternoon (2010)]]

Initially named by its developers "The Big Dipper", Garden City's "The Big Pool" is larger than a 100-yard football field, holds 2.2 million gallons of water and is large enough to accommodate water-skiing. Originally hand-dug in 1922, a bathhouse was added by the [[Works Progress Administration]] during the [[Great Depression]], and local farmers used horse-drawn soil-scrapers to later enlarge the pool. The pool hosts 50-meter Olympic swimming lanes, three water slides, and a children's pool with zero-entry depth. The pool employs a minimum of 14 lifeguards, two slide assistants, three admission clerks, two concession workers and a pool manager on duty each day. Advertised for years as "The World's Largest, Free, Outdoor, Municipal, Concrete Swimming Pool", the pool has been known to count up to 2,000 patrons during the summer months. In order to finance improvements made in recent years, an admission fee is now charged. In 2020 the Big Pool was renovated and re-branded as Garden City Rapids. Several large water slides and a lazy river were added.

Located inside {{convert|110|acre|km2|adj=on}} Finnup Park, the pool is co-located with Finney County Historical Museum and Lee Richardson Zoo, the largest zoological facility in western Kansas, housing more than 300 animals representing 110 species. Walking tours are free to the public; there is a charge for driving into the zoo.

A few miles from Finnup Park, the Big Pool and Lee Richardson Zoo is the Buffalo Game Preserve, with one of the largest herds of bison in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/21491|title=Garden City, KS - World's Largest Outdoor Municipal Concrete Swimming Pool|website=RoadsideAmerica.com|access-date=March 22, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Windsor Hotel (Garden City KS) from NE 1.JPG|thumb|Windsor Hotel (2015)]]

The [[Windsor Hotel (Garden City, Kansas)|Windsor Hotel]], built downtown in 1887 by John A. Stevens, was known as the "Waldorf of the Prairies" because of its lavish quarters. Among its early guests were [[Eddie Foy]], [[Lillian Russell]], [[Jay Gould]] and [[Buffalo Bill Cody]], who stayed in the presidential suite on the third floor. The Windsor, which closed in 1977, is owned by the Finney County Preservation Alliance. The hotel is four stories high, or about {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}} tall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gardencitychamber.net/convention-tourism-bureau/attractions/#windsor|title=Windsor Hotel|publisher=gardencitychamber.net|access-date=September 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911003341/http://www.gardencitychamber.net/convention-tourism-bureau/attractions/#windsor|archive-date=September 11, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Finney County Preservation Alliance is working with New Communities LLC of Denver, Colorado to renovate the hotel into a 65-room boutique hotel with restaurant and bar on the ground floor.<ref>{{cite news|title=Windsor Hotel, Garden City|url=http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/architectureresults.php?id=53|access-date=June 4, 2014|publisher=Kansas Sampler Foundation|archive-date=June 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606204751/http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/architectureresults.php?id=53|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Developers propose new plan for Windsor Hotel|url=http://www.gctelegram.com/news/Windsor-development-10-17-12|access-date=June 4, 2014|publisher=Garden City Telegram|date=October 17, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606214100/http://www.gctelegram.com/news/Windsor-development-10-17-12|archive-date=June 6, 2014}}</ref>