News
Legoland Ownership Group Purchases Cypress Gardens
Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Park Control Changing Hands
George Aycrigg / News Chief
Cypress Gardens has reportedly been sold. Friday, January 15, 2010.
WINTER HAVEN - Shuttered since late September, Cypress Gardens will have new life under new ownership.
The historic theme park on Lake Eloise in Winter Haven has been purchased by Merlin Entertainments Group, the operator of Legoland of California and the second largest attractions company in the world.
Confirmation of the purchase by local officials came after NewsChief.com and other Web sites began reporting around midday Friday that public Polk County legal documents were showing a reassignment of rights to Cypress Gardens from Land South Adventures LLC to Merlin Entertainments Group Florida LLC.
A purchase price was not disclosed Friday.
"The deal is done," said Mark Jackson, the director of Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing. "I have been working, along with other Polk County agencies, with the previous owners (of Cypress Gardens) and the Merlin Entertainments Group for seven months. A lot of work has gone into this."
Jackson declined to be specific about the plans for Cypress Gardens, but he said they would be revealed during a press conference next week.
"The press conference will be next Thursday and all the details and plans will be revealed at that time," Jackson said. "I think everyone will be somewhat surprised with their plans."
According to two legal documents posted Tuesday to the public records section of the Polk County Clerk of Courts Web site, the land lease and development rights to Cypress Gardens were assigned to Merlin Entertainments Group from Land South Adventures the first week of January.
Land South Adventures is owned by Rob Harper and Brian Philpot, the Lakeland real estate investors who purchased Cypress Gardens for $16.9 million in a September 2007 bankruptcy auction. Harper and Philpot assumed ownership of the park the next month.
Cypress Gardens and its Splash Island Waterpark were abruptly closed by Harper and Philpot on Sept. 23, 2009. Since then, speculation had centered on Merlin Entertainments Group as a possible buyer for the theme park.
Merlin owns theme parks scattered around the world, including Legoland in California. Merlin is partly owned by The Blackstone Company, a private equity group that purchased the Busch Gardens and SeaWorld theme parks last fall and also owns a sizable percentage of Universal, which operates Universal Resorts Orlando.
"One of Merlin's owners is The Blackstone Company, which is part of Universal. So, there are obvious marketing opportunities and benefits that can accrue from that," Jackson said. "When a company like Merlin puts their footprint in our county, we will be blessed."
City and county officials were contacted Friday afternoon about the sale of Cypress Gardens and asked about the economic impact a revived park will have on Winter Haven and Polk County.
"This is good news, and it's just the start of it," Winter Haven Mayor Jeff Potter said. "Yes, it's finalized. The plan is a two-year development, $150 million to turn it into Legoland."
A representative from Merlin Entertainments Group confirmed in September the company's interest in Florida as one of several potential expansion sites.
"Cross your fingers and hope it works," Potter said. "Between that and when we put a shovel in the ground for CSX (the planned railroad-trucking terminal in Winter Haven), watch out! It's going to be fantastic."
Some officials were tightlipped about plans for Cypress Gardens but expressed excitement that the park, which was founded by Richard and Julie Pope 74 years ago, had been sold.
"Could you imagine better news at the beginning of the year? This is a ray of sunshine after a cold snap," Winter Haven City Commissioner Jamie Beckett said. "I honestly don't know Merlin's specific marketing plans - they have a variety of brands. But I do believe they are purchasing it with the intent of using it as an amusement park. The rumored level of investment is going to be hugely positive for Winter Haven."
Bob Gernert Jr., the executive director of the Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce called the news "a magnificent opportunity for this community and county."
"It will give us a serious destination that will benefit all the destinations nearby - Bok Tower, Fantasy of Flight," Gernert said. "This type of opportunity has a niche market that would be significant for us.
"The people who love Cypress Gardens, like me, don't want to see it struggle," he said. "We want it to have a sense of dignity and this is a new opportunity and focus for it. If they could find a different business model and be successful, Dick Pope would be ecstatic."
In addition to the tourism revenue, the city of Winter Haven stands to benefit from the utilities used by the Gardens, City Commissioner Nat Birdsong said.
"Not only will the visitors help our town, we provide the utilities for it, so, of course, we want that property to be used," Birdsong said.
County Commissioner Ed Smith of Lake Alfred said, "The No. 1 thing is that this would provide jobs. All of the changes - reworking, remodeling and everything that would need to be done to reopen - would provide jobs, plus the jobs that would be available once they open.
"In addition, the money that the tourism would bring in would be tremendous to the community," Smith said. "They eat in our restaurants, buy gas at our gas stations and stay in our hotels."
In addition to the two legal documents assigning rights to Cypress Gardens to Merlin Entertainments Group, a third public document on the Polk Clerk of Courts Web site shows that a Florida "warrant for collection of delinquent sales and use tax" related to Land South Adventures has been satisfied. That document was dated Jan. 4, 2010.
The original 30 acres of Cypress Gardens are owned by the Polk County government. Any company that comes in to operate the park would have to lease the land from the county. The other property associated with Cypress Gardens on the shore of Lake Eloise, such as the parking lot and the Southern plantation-like Magnolia Mansion, is owned by a private party and is not part of this sale, officials said.
The first public document dealing with Cypress Gardens is titled "Quitclaim Assignment of Submerged Lands Lease" and is dated Jan. 6, 2010. Philpot signed the nine-page document as the "assignor" for Land South Adventures. The document assigns four parcels of land along Lake Eloise to Merlin Entertainments Group Florida, which is listed as a Delaware limited liability company.
The second document, listed as being effective Jan. 7, 2010, is titled "Assignment of Development Rights." The 10-page document again lists Land South Adventures as the "assignor" and Merlin Entertainments Group as the "assignee."
With Merlin Entertainments Group in charge of Cypress Gardens, the Winter Haven theme park once again would be affiliated with Busch Gardens in Tampa and SeaWorld in Orlando. Those parks, plus the long-closed Boardwalk & Baseball park north of Davenport, were sister parks briefly in the late 1980s under the ownership of the Anheuser-Busch Co. Anheuser-Busch bought the SeaWorld parks, Cypress Gardens and Boardwalk & Baseball from publishing company Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Cypress gardens' history:
WINTER HAVEN - Key dates in the history of Cypress Gardens:
Jan. 2, 1936 - Richard "Dick" Pope Sr. and his wife, Julie, open Cypress Gardens as a botanical garden on the northeast shore of Lake Eloise near Winter Haven.
1943 - The first water ski show is held at Cypress Gardens to entertain visiting U.S. servicemen, and the park quickly becomes known as the "water-ski capital of the world."
1962 - Dick Pope Sr. turned the reins of the park over to his son, Dick Pope Jr., and then commits himself to promoting tourism and the development of Florida.
1971 - Cypress Gardens receives new competition for guests with the opening of Walt Disney World near Orlando.
1985 - Cypress Gardens is purchased along with Sea World, Circus World (later rebuilt as Boardwalk & Baseball) and the Stars Hall of Fame by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, a publishing company. For the first time, the park is not led by someone from the founding Pope family.
Sept. 28, 1989 - The park is purchased by Busch Entertainment, the owner of Busch Gardens in Tampa.
April 1, 1995 - Cypress Gardens is purchased by a management team led by William Reynolds.
2001 - The Wacky Water Park opens in the park.
April 13, 2003 - Cypress Gardens closes, with no immediate plans for reopening, following a prolonged tourism decline that resulted from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. More than 500 people are put out of work with only three days' notice. Soon afterward, the Friends of Cypress Gardens is incorporated, and within three and a half months, this grassroots effort raises $13.5 million and helps to save the park.
Feb. 22, 2004 - Adventure Parks Group, owned by Kent Buescher, purchases the property and renames it Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. The purchase of the amusement park portion of the Cypress Gardens property is part of a larger conservation transaction involving the Polk County government and the state of Florida.
September 2004 - Buescher's plan to reopen the park is delayed by severe damage caused by hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne.
November 2004 - Cypress Gardens Adventure Park reopens with great fanfare. One of its new attractions, the Triple Hurricane roller coaster, is named for the tumultuous storm season.
2005 - Buescher adds the Splash Island water park to the Cypress Gardens entertainment package.
September 2006 - Adventure Parks Group files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, partly as a result of the $30 million in damages sustained by the 2004 hurricanes. Cypress Gardens remains open throughout the legal proceedings.
Oct. 16, 2007 - Led by owners Brian Philpot and Rob Harper, Land South Adventures, a subsidiary of Mulberry-based Land South Holdings LLC, buys Cypress Gardens in a bankruptcy auction for $16.9 million. Buescher remains as interim manager.
Jan. 2, 2008 - Buescher is relieved of his management duties and Baker Leisure Group of Orlando takes over park management operations.
Nov. 10, 2008 - Land South Holdings announces the temporary closure of the park, effective Nov. 17, for renovations and restructuring, including the elimination of rides and the animal park.
Feb. 25, 2009 - Philpot and Harper announce that Cypress Gardens will reopen on March 28, 2009, with reduced pricing and an option for guests to pay separate admission for either Cypress Gardens or the Splash Island water park. Former park executive Bill Sims is named the park's general manager.
Sept. 23, 2009 - Philpot and Harper announce the closing of Cypress Gardens effective immediately and commit to helping find another buyer for the historic theme park operation.
Jan. 12, 2010 - The Polk County Clerk of the Courts Office records documents assigning certain rights for use of the Cypress Gardens theme park from Land South Adventures LLC (owned by Philpot and Harper) to Merlin Entertainments Group Florida LLC. Merlin Entertainments Group is the owner-operator of the Legoland theme park in California.
Tagged: Cypress Gardens, Legoland