Wild Rivers Closing for Good!

[America Sings Freak]

Here is the sad story from the OC Register of why Wild Rivers is closing :

 

"Wild Rivers amusement park to close"

"The water park's land lease ends this fall and The Irvine Co. will not renew it.

By CATHY TRAN

The Orange County Register

Wild Rivers Waterpark's 22-year run will come to its end after this season.

 

The water park's lease with landlord The Irvine Co. expires this fall and will not be renewed, despite Wild Rivers' request for an extension.

 

"The time has come for us to take the next step and to provide future housing to meet the needs of the community," Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams said. "Because of this, we were not able to accommodate their request."

 

In 2006 the city changed the zoning of the land to allow residential development. The Irvine Co. plans to build about 3,700 houses and condos on the parcel of land, which includes Wild Rivers and Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, according to an Irvine World News report from last year. The amphitheatre's lease ends in 2017.

 

The Irvine Co. plans to honor the amphitheatre's contract until it ends, Rams said.

 

Before The Irvine Co. confirmed to the Register today that the lease would not extended, Wild Rivers President Mike Riedel, who has worked at the park for ten years, said he was hoping to get at least a one-year lease extension through next summer.

 

"We knew we wouldn't be around forever," Riedel said. Building homes "will create more income for The Irvine Co. than the water park could ever do," he said.

 

But still, "it's a hard thing to deal with. We have a thousand employees – all of them are relying on me to get them a place to work. Families take their kids here. I feel responsible on both fronts."

 

Wild Rivers employs about a thousand people each summer. More than 400,000 people visit the park each summer for more than 40 rides and attractions. The water park is open for business through Sept. 30. The lease ends October 31, Riedel said.

 

In 1998, Wild Rivers got a five-year renewal to extend their lease's ending date from the 2003 season through the 2007 season, according to Riedel.

 

The area is "probably one of the best pieces that remain on the Irvine Ranch," said Mark Boud, the president of Real Estate Economics in Irvine. It is on the coastal side of the I-5 Freeway with great access to jobs, shopping, and entertainment, he said. He estimates that the land is worth $3.5 to $4.5 million per acre if it is used for townhouses, condos and single-family houses.

 

Wild Rivers, including its parking lot, occupies about 29 acres of land.

 

Riedel hopes to open another water park in south Orange County and has considered Laguna Niguel, the future Great Park, and other parts of the old El Toro Marine Corps base as locations. Given the time it takes to acquire permits, the earliest they could open is 2009 – if they found a spot soon.

 

The park, however, would not likely be called Wild Rivers because there would be different investors, Riedel said. Many people who were part of the team that invested the park in 1986 are now older and their investment plans have changed, Riedel explained.

 

The leasing contract requires that some of the assets be turned over to The Irvine Co. when the park closes. The rides that are left will be auctioned, Riedel said. He said the potential future water park would have new attractions.

 

Laguna Niguel's City Council considered Riedel's proposal to lease a watershed basin area for a water park. But Riedel said the site is problematic because it was not quite big enough and it was in a water retention area that could cause flood issues.

 

Earlier this year Wild Rivers' officials made a presentation to the Great Park committee about moving to the sports and recreation section of the park.

 

Riedel has also talked with Lennar about using other land at the El Toro Base.

 

"If there's anyone out there with 20 to 25 acres of land, we'd love to hear from them," Riedel said. "It's hard to find large parcels like that in south Orange County."'

 

 

You can find the full story here:

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1756146.php

[Wes]

Good job not searching, nor even bother to scroll down the first page to find the topic that was already started.

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37121