The Parco Idroscalo, just east of the present Milan Linate airport, opened in October 1930 as a landing place for seaplane service. Seaplane use in short-haul airline service fell off even before the Second World War and never recovered afterward.
The artificial lake was used for boating events as early as 1934 and was the site of the European Rowing Championships in 1938 and 1950. Buildings of the seaplane base were the original terminal of the Linate Airport.
Seaplane terminal infrastructure, the ramp and a large roofed shelter, are visible on the west edge of the rectangular bay near the midpoint of the lake’s west bank, at the Isola della Rose (Isle of Roses).