April 19, 2007 12:04 am
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From staff reports
news@joplinglobe.com
Word that a Disney-scale theme park is coming to the area is going around again.
There is a variation on the theme this time — Newton County instead of more rural McDonald County — but the reaction of local government and business officials ranges from caution to skepticism.
A land-acquisition company that recently sent a representative to meet with the Newton County commissioners has identified property in the Redings Mill area for a possible park, according to Jerry Carter, presiding commissioner.
An address listed on a document that the company filed with the Missouri secretary of state’s office is also the address listed for the corporate offices of Walt Disney Co.
Carter said a man named Todd Marshall, representing ARM Risk, visited the County Commission late last week to ask about roads south of the Redings Mill area in connection with a potential theme park.
Carter said he referred Marshall to the Joplin Special Road District and to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Robert Brown, listed as one of three principals with ARM Risk, according to papers filed March 16 with the Missouri secretary of state, said when contacted by phone Wednesday: “Our main job is land acquisition. ARM was put together for this land-acquisition deal, and it has no other purpose.”
ARM Risk has a Springfield address on the state document.
Brown said the proposed park initially would have 95 shops, 27 rides, 12 stages, and 18 restaurants and eateries. The proposal would include 1,000 acres of land, with the first phase to be completed in two years on 100 acres of that land. The proximity of two U.S. highways is a factor in the site selection, Brown said.
“They are looking at employing about 1,200 full-time people and about 6,000 seasonal workers,” Brown said. Parking capacity would be 9,000 vehicles, he said.
But even Brown cautioned that nothing is final. “It is still definitely just a proposal,” he said.
“I think the second phase is additional parking, additional hotels,” he said.
He would not identify the name of the company that is interested in the area for a theme park. When asked if it was related to Silver Dollar City or to Hard Rock International, which is building a Hard Rock Park in South Carolina, he said “no.”
Asked about Disney, which has been the subject of rumors for years in Southwest Missouri, Brown said, “I can’t release that.”
Asked if he or others with ARM have ever done work for Disney, he said, “I can’t really comment on that.”
Brown would only say that the project involves a “family-oriented” theme park that is privately owned.
Brown, however, listed an address on the filing with the Missouri secretary of state’s office as 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA. That also is given as the address for Walt Disney Co. Another address listed on the filing is that of Jason Johnson, who gives his address as “Corporate Office” in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Lake Buena Vista is the address for numerous Disney properties.
Asked when the name of the theme-park company would be released, Brown said that would be announced with a groundbreaking ceremony if the proposal goes forward.
Asked if the company has identified sellers, Brown said ARM is working with Charles Burt Realtors in Joplin, and he specifically mentioned Allyn Burt.
Burt said Wednesday that he was contacted several weeks ago to put together the land in an area south of Joplin. He stressed that the buyers are “flexible” in terms of the location.
“We were very skeptical, not knowing how real this was,” he said. “We have been working on it, trying to get the majority (of property owners). We have not accomplished that.”
He said ARM has been “very quiet” about who it represents, and he noted that rumors about theme parks have circulated around the region for a long time.
“That’s kind of the reason we are skeptical,” he said.
So far, Burt said, his efforts have turned up some “tough ones” and some “pretty good ones” regarding property owners willing to sell.
“We can’t say it’s definite because they have told us it’s not,” he said. “We are hopeful, but a lot has to happen.”
Asked whether the company is having any luck finding sellers in the region, Brown said, “Everyone has been really cooperative.”
Several residents in the Redings Mill area, specifically along Douglas Fir Road, said Wednesday that they recently had been approached about selling their properties, but none suggested that any transactions had been completed.
Gib Garrow, director of economic development for Neosho, said he also has heard the rumors about a theme park in the area, but nothing official.
“Two months ago, it was NASCAR. Now, it’s Disney World,” Garrow said of the talk surrounding Newton County property.
Garrow said he has not been approached about any potential theme-park project, but that he probably wouldn’t be because in projects that big, information is kept to a minimum in an effort to keep land prices from increasing.
Asked what he thought of the proposal, Carter, the Newton County commissioner, said the county needs to be cautious and “just take it one step at a time.”
“These things,” Carter said, “have significant impact, and it is very important for the citizens of Newton County that we watch this carefully, and that we report any information we receive thoroughly and timely.”
No response
A phone message left Wednesday with the media relations department at Walt Disney Co. offices in Burbank, Calif., was not returned.
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