Industry observer says ‘market is not there’

By Andy Ostmeyer

aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com

“Balderdash!”

That was the reaction Tuesday of an observer of the theme-park industry when he was told about a touted plan for 1,000 acres of land just south of Joplin in Newton County.

Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a past president and board member of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, was blunt in his reaction to what is being promoted as a plan to buy the land near Redings Mill and invest $1.7 billion in attractions and hotels.

“We watch the industry on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, annual basis,” Speigel said. “I can assure you that neither Disney nor any other major theme-park operator is looking at that market. The market is not there. The population is not there. The economics are not there.”

Two weeks ago, an operation named ARM Risk, which has a Springfield address, sent a representative, Todd Marshall, to meet with the Newton County commissioners. He said the project would have 27 rides, 95 shops, 12 stages, 18 restaurants and six hotels with 2,100 rooms in its first phase, and that it would employ 1,200 full-time and 6,000 seasonal workers.

Neither Robert Brown, a principal with ARM who spoke to the Globe last week by phone, nor Marshall could be reached for comment.

Attempts to reach them several business days last week and this week have resulted in busy signals or voice messages that have not been returned.

Jerry Carter, Newton County presiding commissioner, said Tuesday that the commission has not had any further contact with anyone from ARM, and has had no luck reaching anyone from that operation since the initial meeting.

“We’re just like everyone else here,” he said. “We are extremely interested and extremely cautious.”

Brown told the Globe last week that ARM is a land-acquisition company set up specifically for this deal, but he refused to identify the company that allegedly is interested in buying the land and building a theme park.

Brown’s address on filings with the Missouri secretary of state’s office is listed as 500 S. Buena Vista St. in Burbank, Calif., which is the address for The Walt Disney Co. The address on the state documents for another ARM principal, Jason Johnson, is listed as “Corporate Offices” in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., the home of Disney operations near Orlando.

Carter said he spoke to Disney officials who “strongly denied” any connection or involvement with any company seeking to buy land in the Joplin area.

Brown declined to comment last week when asked if he was with Disney or had ever worked for the company. Disney officials who were reached last week by the Globe said they would neither confirm nor deny any plans.

Brown said he is working with a local real-estate agent, Allyn Burt, to acquire the land. Burt said last week that he was working to put together property owners for the land deal, but he also said he has been skeptical about any theme-park plan, and that ARM officials have been “quiet” about who they represent. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Several residents in the region said they have been approached and offered money for their properties along Douglas Fir Road, but none wanted to discuss the offers or the details on the record.

Told about the scale of the project, Speigel laughed.

“Those numbers are just astronomical in today’s world in that size market,” he said. “It’s fabricated. If you took all the people who live in those surrounding markets (Kansas City, St. Louis, Tulsa, Okla., etc.) and slid them into Joplin, you couldn’t service the debt on a project of this nature.

“Disney is not looking at anything out there. Six Flags is not looking at anything out there. Universal is not looking at anything out there. Cedar Fair (Worlds of Fun) is not looking at anything out there.”

Rob Norris, who is on the board of directors for the amusement-park association and the group’s immediate past chairman, said a park of the size outlined by Brown for the area is rarely done.

“The scale here is world-class,” said Norris, president of Seabreeze Park in New York. “This is bigger than a drive-to park.”

He also said it would take a “world-class” airport to serve the park being proposed.

“Why Joplin? Why that area? It makes no sense,” added Speigel.

He said there is a major theme park with 2.5 hours of every major metropolitan area in the United States, and that new “greenfield” parks are rarely built anymore.

What’s more, he said, this is not the way major theme parks operate.

“If Disney — and they’re not — were involved, this would be so under the radar that people wouldn’t have a clue,” he said.

“It’s silly to let these things run rampant,” he said of the speculation.

Andy Ostmeyer is the metro editor for The Joplin Globe.





On the Net



The Web site for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions is www.iaapa.org.