The world's largest aircraft hangar became a water park after the original owners went broke!

German entrepreneur Carlvon Gablenz thought he had a good idea when he envisioned a fleet of giant helium airships. These airships would haul large industrial loads such as wind turbines there and oil rigs. Seems somewhat plausible. Ten years ago, he began building a hangar at an abandoned Soviet air field 40 miles south of Berlin.

His company spent $110 million to erect the structure, which was 1,181 feet long by 688 feet wide by 351 feet high.
It resembles a large half moon structure. However, by 2002, Gablenz's company was insolvent. The German government ordered him to sell his giant airship hangar to a Malaysian company. This company, Tanjong, bought the structure for $24 million and turned it into a Tropical Islands Resort.

About 900,000 visitors come to the giant water park each year. The pool inside is larger than four Olympic-sized pools combined and has 600 feet of sandy beaches along it. The Bali Lagoon has the largest indoor rain forest as well as a waterfall. Gablenz is still hopeful about the future of helium airships and is a bitter that his impressive hangar was "sold for a swimming pool."