NEWS: Changes coming to Silver Springs Nature Theme Park

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?p=all&tc=pgall&AID=2012121129892

 

A statement about the future of the Silver Springs attraction could be coming soon.

 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection intends to schedule a public meeting in Ocala, likely sometime during the week of Dec. 10, to gather community input on how the land should be managed.

 

DEP spokeswoman Jennifer Diaz said the state has not finalized a deal to change or tear up the lease with Palace Entertainment, the California-based theme park operator that has run Silver Springs since 2002.

 

Nor, she added, is this upcoming session different from what the agency would do for any other state-managed property in Florida.

 

Still, this is DEP's first attempt to publicly gauge local sentiment on Silver Springs since Palace Entertainment first signaled a willingness to relinquish its lease nearly two years ago. And it is unlikely regulators would schedule such a public meeting unless a change were forthcoming.

 

On that point Diaz responded: "We're still in negotiations with Palace. An agreement or lease amendment does not have to be in place for us to hold a public meeting. The public meeting is for DEP to begin to gather input on what the community wants for the future of the land.

 

"We want to do what is best for the community, the environment and the employees," she said.

 

Jake Varn, a Tallahassee lawyer who represents Palace Entertainment, said in an email that he is not directly involved in the negotiations, and thus did not know what terms, if any, had been discussed.

 

He referred questions to Mike Friscia, a vice president with Palace Entertainment. Friscia could not be reached for comment.

 

In January 2011 County Commissioner Stan McClain, as the board's chairman, first revealed a plan for the county and the state to ease Palace Entertainment out of its lease, which expires in 2029.

 

At the time, the county proposed taking over the park from the contractor and spending about $6.3 million on improvements at the park over a three-year span.

 

Silver Springs' key attractions — the glass-bottomed boats and the winter concerts — would be retained.

 

County officials also wanted to add new features, such as swimming, snorkeling, diving and canoeing, in order to make Silver Springs an ecotourism destination.

 

Private vendors contracting with the county would provide those services, giving an economic boost of a projected 500 new jobs.

 

The plan stalled almost immediately, however, when Commissioner Carl Zalak and former Commissioner Mike Amsden objected. They argued that the state should run the park.

 

Joining McClain in support of the county's proposal was former Commissioner Charlie Stone, now a member of the Florida House.

 

The deadlock remained unresolved because Commissioner Kathy Bryant declared a conflict of interest. Her former husband is a senior executive at the park.

 

Ahead of the meeting next month, DEP officials reminded the public in a press release on Tuesday that the state would spend about $1.4 million to boost the water quality in the Silver Springs region.

 

Reiterating an earlier announcement from July, DEP said that $1 million of that amount would go toward a project — conducted in conjunction with Marion County and the St. Johns River Water Management District — to reroute treated wastewater discharged from the county's regional sewer plant in Silver Springs to one in Silver Springs Shores, some 10 miles from the spring's headwaters.

 

The project also entailed hooking up smaller wastewater treatment plants around Silver Springs to the main facility.

Edited January 26, 2013 by jedimaster1227

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012121209897

 

State environmental regulators have scheduled a public meeting for next week to discuss the future of Silver Springs.

 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will host the session at 7 p.m. on Dec. 12 in the cafeteria at Vanguard High School in Ocala.

 

Spokeswoman Jennifer Diaz said the purpose is to allow DEP's park planners to gather input potential land management and recreational needs and wants at the site.

 

DEP officials have declined to comment on whether the meeting is being held because Palace Entertainment, the California-based theme park operator that has run the attraction since 2002, is planning to surrender its lease.

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-silver-springs-state-park-20121210,0,977415.story

 

The possibility of Silver Springs, one of Florida's oldest tourist attractions, becoming a state park will be discussed at a workshop on Wednesday.

 

The public meeting will offer a first glimpse at what the future might hold for the attraction near Ocala. Silver Springs could follow the fate of Weeki Wachee Springs, the attraction famous for its mermaid show, which was privately run until it became a state park in 2008.

 

Palace Entertainment, a California company that runs 40 parks and family entertainment centers, leases Silver Springs from the state. The springs are located on the state's 5,000-acre Silver River State Park.

 

The lease remains in effect until 2029.

 

Patrick Gillespie, press secretary for the state Department of Environmental Protection, confirmed there have been discussions between the company and the Division of State Lands about ending the lease early.

 

Tourists began visiting Silver Springs since before the Civil War, and glass-bottom boat tours started there in 1878. Six of the original "Tarzan" movies starring Johnny Weissmuller were filmed there.

 

However, there has been growing outcry about the health of the springs as its water flow has diminished and pollution has increased. The park is popular with many for its concert series, which in the past has drawn stars such as Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell.

 

Palace Entertainment still cares about the park but declined to discuss the lease, said Mike Friscia, vice president of the company's water park division.

 

"We will always keep an open mind about what may be the best long-term interests of the park, the surrounding community, and the State of Florida in general," Friscia said in a statement.

 

Wednesday's workshop is meant to gauge public opinion on how the attraction could be managed as a state park and what recreation could be offered there. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at Vanguard High School, 7 N.W. 28th St., Ocala.

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013130109801&tc=ar

 

It might not be official yet, but the state’s answer to the question of whether the Silver Springs attraction will become a state park is looking more like a matter of when and not if.

 

Facts

Meeting about Silver Springs

The state Department of Environmental Protection will hold another meeting concerning the Silver Springs attraction at 7 p.m. next Monday at Vanguard High School, 7 NW 28th St., Ocala.

On Monday, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection released the draft of a plan for managing the renowned tourist site should Palace Entertainment opt out of its lease.

 

The plan was assembled from public comments made at a Dec. 12 public hearing that DEP hosted at Vanguard High School, said Jennifer Diaz, spokeswoman for the Florida Park Service.

 

She insisted that a change in management at the 242-acre facility still hinges on the approval of an agreement between the state and Palace Entertainment by Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet, and that it’s unknown when or if the panel will take up a shift in management at Silver Springs.

 

Still, Diaz explained, the plan was written to inform the public what steps the state would take at Silver Springs during a transition from Palace’s control to incorporating the park into DEP’s regular management strategy for all state parks.

 

That will be the subject of a second public hearing, schedule for 7 p.m. Monday at Vanguard.

 

The language of the plan itself suggests parks officials are moving closer to taking the reins.

 

The document notes that the state acquired the site in 1993, and that deal opened a 20-year window during which the property was to be restored to a “more natural, environmentally sensitive condition” in preparation for DEP’s “eventual management” of the property as a state park.

 

Palace Entertainment, a California-based theme park operator, is the latest and longest-surviving of a series of companies to run Silver Springs since 1993. The company has operated there since 2002, and has leased the site until the end of 2029.

 

Palace, the DEP proposal points out, has said it no longer wants to manage the attraction.

 

If that comes to pass, the state wants to incorporate it into the neighboring Silver River State Park.

 

According to the draft plan, the DEP’s goals during a transition to state management include: ensuring the park remains open with minimal disruption to visitors; reducing the impact of the man-made features on the waterway; identifying facilities or infrastructure that need to be repaired or removed; seeking out opportunities for private concessionaires to provide many of the services now offered by Palace Entertainment.

 

The agency would also maintain some core elements to Silver Springs, or launch new ones, the proposal says.

 

Those include: operation of the glass-bottom boats and Wild Waters theme park; the concerts and special events; offering swimming, canoeing, kayaking and hiking and nature trails; “interpretive” programs focusing on the park’s natural, cultural and water resources.

 

The state intends to solicit private contractors to handle some of those services and others, such as food sales, equipment rental and retails sales from the gift shops and other on-site outlets.

 

State officials also have sized up a number of necessary capital repairs.

 

For example, the roofs and air conditioning units in the historic structures, some of which date to the late 1950s, need to be replaced.

 

The state also wants to tear out some of the asphalt in the 1,750-space parking lot, and upgrade the stormwater systems at Wild Waters and within Silver Springs.

 

Deteriorating buildings and other infrastructure would be rebuilt or refurbished, while those that are deemed inessential or incompatible to the “resource-based recreation mission” of the park would be torn down.

 

Some of the latter include the Jeep Safari area and maintenance building, the animal exhibits and petting zoo, the amusement rides and Lost River Voyage launch and the Kids Ahoy Playland, gift shop and restrooms.

 

Palace Entertainment may contribute toward the improvements, Diaz said.

 

The draft document notes that the agency will eventually need additional funding to build new facilities and operate the site.

 

Palace Entertainment’s departure would open a hole of $600,000 or so in the state’s annual budget because of lost rent payments.

 

Diaz said DEP continues to evaluate that potential cost.

 

Yet parks officials, according to the draft plan, believe some of that would be offset because of “significantly reduced” operating and maintenance costs, attributable to returning the attraction to a “much more natural condition than exists today.”

 

Diaz added that Marion County would not be responsible for footing any of the bill related to the upgrades at Silver Springs.

 

That had been a major sticking point in the past for the County Commission.

 

The board was divided for much of 2011, when the idea of easing Palace Entertainment out of the park first came to light, because the proposal called for the county spending as much as $6 million over three years to help broker the deal.

 

The DEP, Diaz said, would continue to welcome the input of local residents for the future of the park, which is the reason for the second hearing next week.

 

“We want to hear what the community likes, what it doesn’t like, and if we have thought of XYZ,” she said.

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130116/ARTICLES/130119678/1182?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar

 

Palace Entertainment is willing to spend $4 million to terminate its lease for Silver Springs before the end of the year, according to state records, a major victory for local environmentalists that clears the way for Florida's oldest tourist attraction to become part of the state park system.

 

Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet will vote next week on whether to allow Festival Fun Parks, a subsidiary of Palace Entertainment, to buy its way out of its lease.

 

As it stands, Palace Entertainment's lease runs through the end of 2029.

 

If the plan is approved, the state Department of Environmental Protection would assume control of the 242-acre park on Oct. 1.

 

Patrick Gillespie, spokesman for the DEP, said Silver Springs would then reopen as part of the adjacent Silver River State Park.

 

"I think this is a great opportunity for DEP and the state of Florida to continue improving the health of Silver Springs, one of Florida's most iconic landmarks," DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard said in an email to the Star-Banner.

 

"This effort will aid in our efforts to restore Silver Springs, while providing additional resource-based activities."

 

Silver Springs, Gillespie added, would remain open as normal through Sept. 30.

 

But in the interim, Palace Entertainment would begin to transition the park to "bring it back to its natural state," Gillespie noted.

 

That was what state environmental regulators envisioned when the state purchased the property from the Florida Acquisition Corp. in July 1992.

 

The proposed terms call for Palace Entertainment to plow $4 million into the facility.

 

As the Cabinet staff noted in a report, despite "constant maintenance" and Palace Entertainment's "investments" over the years, Silver Springs "remains in serious need of repair."

 

The exotic animals and their associated habitat and infrastructure would be removed under the plan, as would all the amusement rides and other structures that state parks officials determine must go.

 

Gillespie said that the DEP intends other changes that were noted in a temporary management plan the agency floated almost two weeks ago.

 

That document pointed out that the roofs and air conditioning units in some of the historic structures, first built in the 1950s, must be replaced.

 

Deteriorating buildings and other infrastructure that cannot be refurbished or were deemed inessential or incompatible with a state park would be torn down.

 

That would include the Jeep Safari area, the petting zoo, the Lost River Voyage launch and the Kids Ahoy Playland, gift shop and restrooms.

 

The DEP also wants to rip up some of the asphalt in the 1,750-space parking lot, and upgrade the stormwater systems at Wild Waters and within Silver Springs.

 

Silver Springs' core amenities — the glass-bottomed boats, the Wild Waters water park and the series of concerts and special events — would remain intact.

 

The documents released Wednesday indicate that the DEP wants to provide more opportunities for recreational activities, such as hiking, biking, wildlife-viewing and picnicking. Environmental regulators also have discussed "interpretive" programs focusing on the park's natural, cultural and water resources.

 

The state also wants to bring in private concessionaires to provide many of the services now offered by Palace Entertainment, as well as launching new ones.

 

According to Gillespie, admission fees have yet to be determined. But, he added, the Florida Park Service plans to honor all the passes sold.

 

In time, DEP officials have said, the agency will develop a 10-year management plan for Silver Springs, as they have done at all other state parks.

 

Parks officials anticipate retaining Silver Springs' current staff "to the extent possible," the documents say.

 

Some familiar with the proposal said Palace Entertainment seeks an exit because Silver Springs does not fit the company's main product.

 

Palace Entertainment operates eight theme parks, 11 water parks and 21 "family entertainment centers" in 11 states, according to its website, drawing some 13 million customers a year.

 

The California-based amusement park operator has run Silver Springs since 2002, the longest-surviving company in a series of renters over the past two decades.

 

But according to the Cabinet staff report, Silver Springs is suffering economically.

 

The park once boasted a 23.5 percent profit margin.

 

After the series of hurricanes blew through Marion County in 2004, that fell to about 5 percent and apparently never recovered.

 

The company sought — and received from the state — a reduction in its annual lease payment. Palace Entertainment's rent has run about $600,000 a year.

 

That state-granted relief has not been enough, however, to reverse fortunes at the park.

 

"This chain of events, along with the current economic downfall, has left (Palace Entertainment) unable to profitably manage Silver Springs," the Cabinet documents noted.

 

"In an effort to avoid additional loss of funds, (Palace Entertainment) is requesting early termination of its lease."

 

Last February the company announced that it had raised $430 million from privately issued bonds, cash on hand, and shareholders' equity to refinance its existing debt.

 

DEP officials have said local governments will not be asked to contribute funds toward the state takeover.

 

If the Cabinet approves the staff recommendation, that provision, and the DEP's overall plan for making it part of Silver River State Park, appear to vindicate the position held two years ago by County Commissioner Carl Zalak and then-Commissioner Mike Amsden.

 

At that time, Commissioner Stan McClain revealed a plan for the county to take control of the park if Palace Entertainment could be convinced to leave.

 

The company at the time offered the county management rights so long as the County Commission accepted the park "as is."

 

That meant local taxpayers pumping in roughly $6.3 million over three years for infrastructure improvements.

 

McClain's idea, which won support from former Commissioner Charlie Stone, featured much of what the DEP is now proposing in terms of other recreational opportunities and allowing private vendors.

 

Yet the proposal stalled, and eventually died, when Commissioner Kathy Bryant declared a conflict of interest — her former spouse worked at Silver Springs — and Zalak and Amsden declined to go along.

 

They countered that the cost was prohibitive and that the state should operate the site.

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013130129891&tc=ar

 

Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet on Wednesday approved a plan that lets Palace Entertainment out of its lease by October, positioning Silver Springs to become part of the state park system.

 

The panel voted unanimously to accept Palace Entertainment's offer to pay $4 million to be released from its lease to operate the park.

 

The lease, which was set to expire at the end of 2029, now ends Sept. 30.

 

That means on Oct. 1 the state Department of Environmental Protection will take over the 242-acre site encompassing the world-renowned springs. State officials have said Silver Springs will be incorporated into the adjacent Silver River State Park.

 

Palace Entertainment will continue to operate the attraction until that time.

 

During the interim before the change in management, Palace Entertainment will spend the $4 million on internal improvements at the site.

 

Scott and the Cabinet — which includes Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam — did not comment on the proposal before voting.

 

County Commissioner Stan McClain addressed the panel and recommended approval of the proposal on behalf of the community.

 

"Silver Springs has and always will be part of the identity of Marion County and ... created an iconic brand that is still recognized today," McClain said of the springs, considered Florida's first tourist attraction, whose identity as such dates to the 1870s.

 

Yet, he added, more recently visitors have left "filled with disappointment" with their experience, lamenting especially the decline in clarity and quality of the once crystal clear waters.

 

McClain also reminded the cabinet of the recent partnerships between the county and the state to improve the water quality at the springs.

 

He noted the county's management of a 330-acre state-owned conservation area across Baseline Road from the springs, the county's $2.5 million contribution toward the state's $76 million deal to buy the 4,600-acre Avatar site north of State Road 40 and the county's cooperation in the $1.3 million effort to reroute the so-called Monster Pipe that previously dumped stormwater runoff into a tributary of the Silver River.

 

In addition, McClain noted, the county has since 2006 undertaken a $30 million effort to reduce the number of small wastewater plants around Silver Springs.

 

"The interesting point about all of this, and the reason that I shared this with you, all those projects have taken place outside of the gates of Silver Springs in the surrounding area," McClain said.

 

Now, he suggested, it was time to clear a path for Palace Entertainment's exit and start addressing the things that affect the water quality "inside the gates."

 

Wednesday's decision returns Silver Springs to the idea state environmental regulators had in cutting a deal with the Florida Acquisition Corp. to purchase the site in 1992.

 

Its use as a theme park was designed to be limited and temporary. State officials mandated that the site be readied as a state park when private vendors eventually left.

 

After the vote, DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard said in a statement, "We are pleased that the Governor and Cabinet have decided to approve this agreement so that the Department can return the property closer to its natural state, involve the community in recreation opportunity decisions and continue our efforts of improving water quality in Silver Springs, one of Florida's most iconic treasures."

 

"Florida's 171 state parks, trails and historic sites are pleased to welcome the Silver Springs property into our family of resource-based recreation areas and historic and cultural sites," Donald Forgione, director of the Florida Park Service, added in his own statement. "We look forward to working with Palace Entertainment during the transition and to opening the gates on Oct. 1 as a state park."

 

DEP officials also announced Wednesday that the agency's Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration had held its first meeting to finalize a basin management plan for Silver Springs.

 

That, officials said, was the first such restoration plan to reduce the nitrates that have caused the springs and upper Silver River to be declared impaired.

 

As part of its initial plan for Silver Springs, the DEP intends to provide more opportunities for recreational activities, such as hiking, biking, wildlife-viewing and picnicking.

 

Environmental regulators also have discussed establishing "interpretive" programs that focus on the park's natural, cultural and water resources.

 

The state also plans to bring in private concessionaires to provide many of the services now offered by Palace Entertainment, as well as launching new ones.

 

DEP officials said new admission fees have yet to be determined.

 

The Florida Park Service plans to honor all the passes sold.

 

The state also anticipates retaining Silver Springs' current staff to the extent possible.

 

DEP officials said a long-term management plan, as required by state law, is expected to completed by September 2014.

 

Palace Entertainment, a California-based amusement park operator, has run Silver Springs since 2002. The company is the longest surviving in a series of renters over the past two decades. Yet, according to a recent cabinet staff report, Palace Entertainment is suffering financially because of reduced profits from the attraction.