CAWSOME….IB CROW TO FLY AGAIN!
Indiana Beach fan’s prayers are answered.
First in a two part series- News & Review exclusive
Gene Staples, president of Indiana Beach Holdings, LLC, announced today that he is the new owner of the ninety-four year old iconic amusement park called Indiana Beach.
“Once again it will become a family run midwestern amusement park,” Staples stated about Indiana Beach. Depending on the current pandemic status, Staples plans to open the park hopefully in July.
Staples, who lives in the Chicago area, is a US Navy veteran who loves to pay attention to the details. He plans to do just that when it comes to managing Indiana Beach.
“It’s still a vintage amusement park and we’re going to take care of what we can take care of over those next few months. Like I said, tracking the Hoosier Hurricane. We’re going to do lots of painting. We’re going to do lots of small improvements that some people may know, some people may not know, but it’s important improvements that we talked about may not provide a return on investments, but to me, the one thing that’s lacking is a lot of attention to detail and we’re slowly going to be doing that attention to detail,” Staples explained.
The announcement of a new owner will be a refreshing sigh of relief not only for Indiana Beach fans but also for the citizens of White County. Indiana Beach is White County’s largest employer in the summer but also attracts thousands of tourists to the area. These tourists are the lifeblood for many restaurants, hotels and resorts in the area.
Before any public announcement, the NEWS & REVIEW had the exclusive opportunity to visit inside Indiana Beach and interview Mr. Gene Staples as the new owner of Indiana Beach. We were able to ask Mr. Staples several questions that have been on the minds of Indiana Beach fans since Apex Parks Group announced the closing of Indiana Beach on February 18th.
Here’s our conversation with Mr. Staples:
NR: For generations Indiana Beach has been known to be a vacation spot for families. Prior to you purchasing the park have you had any connection to Indiana Beach before? Family vacations?
STAPLES: So yeah, I had a connection. I had family growing up from Indiana, aunts and uncles and relatives and visited the beach, probably not as often as we should have, but still some good childhood memories coming down. So I have my own four kids, age ranges from 13 through 22. So while they were growing up, I brought them down. Self-prescribed, I would say, amusement park aficionado, but I consider it more of a kinetic art, right? Roller coasters, the mechanical art and the vintage amusement park obviously has a special place.
Growing up with, and with my own kids, we lived very close to Kiddieland in Melrose Park, Illinois, which was lost to a Costco store a few years ago. But I was sad to see that go. When I drive by the Costco, and remember the Kiddieland America. And, like I said, I couldn’t just do nothing when it came to this. And so I made the phone calls and here we are all of a sudden two months later and making big plans.
NR: Indiana Beach was sold to Morgan Management in 2008 and then to Apex in 2015. The track record of new owners of Indiana Beach has been precarious at best. What makes you think Indiana Beach Holdings will do any better?
STAPLES: When this came about, I had the means to step in, had some initial discussions and saw an opportunity where I could be a potential wingman. I can do something about preventing the loss of another one of America’s icons, because they’re becoming less and less. The vintage amusement park is fallen prey unfortunately, we’re losing Americana. That’s the best way to put it, I guess. So if you go to preserve that Americana, there seems to have been a following and then the only downfall to this park … Apex did a good job with what they could do, but I think that the way they acquired it from a financial standpoint couldn’t be sustained in the long run, is the best way to put it. So if you could structure the deal in a way that makes sense, it can be viable. It had the looks from our analysis to be an ongoing viable concern if you could structure the debts properly.
That’s what we saw when we really analyzed this opportunity. We analyzed it from both the financial aspect, but we also analyzed it from the people of the community and not only this community, but the extended community of the amusement park community. And is there a following; is there still a demand? Does this park make viable sense that you’re going to have an ongoing following? And that’s our one thing. Phase one was to get the deal done and like I said, it’s a multifaceted deal, especially with the county and the economic incentive, which we were waiting for before making an announcement to be complete.
NR: Over the years the campgrounds have become a large part of the accommodations for Indiana Beach guests. Plus, there are a few hundred seasonal campers who paid for their sites in advance. What will be the status of the seasonal campers and the campgrounds in general?
STAPLES: Yes. Especially because we want to, depending on obviously, the state and what we’re going on with the COVID thing right now, our intention is to open the campground on May 1st as is viable or allowable, pursuant to the health and safety of the guests, the state and all that. And the last thing we want is to lose any of our patrons and we want them to stay. Especially with us stepping in and the turn we’re going to make, we feel we’re going to make in bringing this back to well, we’re a private equity firm. Like I said, we’re closely held. So as we become, once again, a family-run Midwestern amusement park.
NR: The IB fan base is concerned about the park with the recent Covid-19 pandemic; the Indiana stay at home order and soft economy. Would it be better not to rush to open this year and allow maintenance crews to repair and spruce up the park? Then have a grand reopening in 2021.
STAPLES: We have hopes to open it this year. Obviously, if we weren’t in the current situation we are in America, our intention when we originally got involved was to be open in 2020. Now, we hope to be open in 2020. However, as we all know, it’s a seasonal park and the determination of whether we’re going to be open this year is simply based upon the restrictions that are being imposed upon public gatherings at this point and what dates those opened up. We’re on the fence. I mean, we’re really on the fence. It’s day by day right now with what’s going on with the COVID. And that’s really the determining our stance. Obviously, we know and we are establishing a plan of what needs to be done. Yes, there’s a lot of things can be done on the off-season, but then we were looking at, there’s two still two solid months of preparation time right. Almost 45 to 60 days for the preparation time. That allows for us to do a lot. I think our internal discussions are, we would need to be able to be open by the beginning of July to make a viable run. So no matter what, waiting the year, I don’t know how much difference would make. Obviously, there are pluses and minuses to that, but in the end, we’re looking to do it right. We need to take our time and have a stage plan of attack on what needs to be done here. It does us no good, even if we could open in July, if nobody wants to come because of fears or anxiety.
NR: Now that you are the owner of the iconic Indiana Beach on Lake Shafer you probably know that boating and skiing are huge activities in the area. For years boaters have been able to dock at the park and purchase food and drinks. When Apex purchased the park they immediately blocked boaters from docking to purchase food and drinks. Under your ownership do you think you’ll allow boaters to dock and purchase food and drinks on the famous Indiana Beach Boardwalk?
STAPLES: I understand what Apex did, and there are reasons behind it. Obviously, one of the big benefits in today’s world of what they did by gating the park, and I get it, I totally get it that the romance of the boardwalk and they’ll just walk in and buy wristbands or buy tickets and go on your rides. I grew up that way, this park and Kiddieland and then there was a point where Kiddieland also gated their park, but from the day’s world, unfortunately, there’s a security benefit of having the park gated and counting the attendance and managing who comes in and out of the park. And especially now more than ever with this COVID thing, that we really manage who’s coming out of the park.
But as an avid boater myself and having a house on a lake in Wisconsin, I see the benefits of boating, and so what our thoughts are is that we are going to put in stalls for day parking, if you will, first come first serve. There’ll be a number of assigned spots for daily use for boaters who want to boat over that will be outside of the main gates, where then they just have to walk a football field to get through the main gate. Somewhere over by the Double Shot, we’ll call it, where we’re going to put it in small slip parking.
NR: Will the boaters need to pay full admission to come in or are you bringing back a general admission option?
STAPLES: We anticipate anyone that’s on the lake would obtain a season pass. We don’t have the exact pricing yet, but there will be a substantial discount to White County residents. So if you actually live on the lake, and it’s your full time home, great, you’re going to get the discount. We have to establish that plan. Like I said, it’s still new and we’re still establishing our pricing model, but we know that, and I talked to the County, we are going to offer a discount to White County residents for the season passes so that in the end you’re going to boat over and be able to join the park, and those are the people that are going to be here more often than that. That’s why we’re offering the discounts. It’ll be a substantial discount to whatever the season pass price is, but still it’ll help offset our costs, operating costs, stuff like piers and stuff that only these people are going to be using. We definitely want the locals because we look at this as a local park, but like I said, unfortunately, in today’s world, we also have to control who’s coming and going.
NR: There’s been plenty of buzz on social media concerning the 2020 season passes sold by Apex. Do you know if Apex will reimburse the purchasers or will you honor the passes sold?
STAPLES: Part of our acquisition is, in our deal with the County and Apex, we’re going to be honoring all season passes. So any season passes that were sold who were not quote unquote ‘refunded,’ because there’s some people that got refunds at one point or got refunds from the credit card companies which was reported to Apex. So we have a thorough listing of that, and so we are going to honor all season passes, seasonal campsite reservations that were paid for this season, or if we do not open the park for some reason this season, it will carry credit over to the 2021 season. Because these are the people that we’re hoping not only then in turn will help us by continuing being loyal season pass holders and into the future. And once again, I just want to clarify. We’re going to honor them or credit them. We can’t give refunds.
NR: As you may know Indiana Beach has a loyal fan base of hundreds of thousands. They all will be wondering, who is Gene Staples? What’s your background?
STAPLES: Grew up in Chicago, had business dealings throughout Chicago and the Midwest. I’m an equity investor and a businessperson and I’m looking just to bring my experience in and make it the best it could be. I bought this for myself because of my affection, I know, with Americana. I’m a Navy veteran. I was involved with helicopters. I was aboard the USS Inchon, which is now a coral reef. I was out of HS-1 in Tactical Helicopter Squad with one out of Jacksonville, Florida. Also no longer existent. It really gives the sense to show your age. Those things you did that seem like yesterday are all gone. Right?
But at the same point I bought it for my kids. Some of the best experiences, just like you said, growing up, some of the best experiences I had in my life are with my kids at amusement parks, whether it’s this one or Six Flags and numerous water parks, Walt Disney World. And there’s something that it’s family, right?
Like I said, we just now need all of those people that signed the petition and they were up in arms to really help support us, because we need their support. Because it’s not going to work if we don’t have the support.
As we strolled around the IB Boardwalk after the interview you could tell in the way Staples walked he was excited and ready to take on the challenges to bring the sparkle back to Indiana Beach.
And it you’re wondering what is Gene’s favorite ride at Indiana Beach he picked the Air Crow. “It’s one of those vintage rides, like I said, I’m a kinetic guy, kinetic art. I love mechanical things and I like the Air Crow, there’s something, it’s super vintage. It’s super cool. And so I think it’s one of the coolest rides here,” he said with a boyish grin on his face.
His favorite amusement park food? “My favorite food here is the elephant ear, unfortunately,” stated with a gleam in his eye. Well fortunately for Staples he will be putting in plenty of miles strutting the Boardwalk inspecting the details daily like former owner Tom Spackman did for many decades.
Here is the timeline leading up to the announcement of Staples purchasing Indiana Beach:
•February 18th, Apex Parks Group announced Indiana Beach would be closed along with three other Apex properties. The closings were reportedly due to financial reasons.
•February 24th, a joint press was release from White County government leaders stated that they would be working together with Apex to find options for the park
•February 24th, Fun Spot America releases a statement that they are not interested in pursuing an acquisition of Indiana Beach.
•March 7th, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch meets with local government officials.
•March 11th, Indiana Secretary of State approves Indiana Beach Holdings, LLC certificate of organization to operate within the State of Indiana.
•March 12th, White County Commissioners, County Council members; Monticello Mayor Cathy Gross; George Loy, White County lawyer; Rich Hall, Indianapolis lawyer; Randy Mitchell, Economic Development President and others met in an executive session at the courthouse for the following purpose; For interviews and negotiations with industrial or commercial prospects or agents of industrial or commercial prospects.
•March 13th, Another executive session was announced for March 17th in the Commissioner’s meeting room at 5:30 PM. Topic of discussion is listed as; For interviews and negotiations with industrial or commercial prospects or agents of industrial or commercial prospects.
•March 13th, a special meeting is announced for March 17th
at 6:30 PM in the Commissioner’s meeting room involving the Board of White County Commissioners and County Council. The listed agenda is: Consideration of financial incentives for a qualified buyer of Indiana Beach Amusement and Water Park Resorts.
•March 17th, In a joint meeting with White County Commissioners and County Council approve $3 million incentive package for a qualified buyer of Indiana Beach.
•March 27th, Joint executive session and meeting with Commissioners and County Council scheduled for March 31st. The listed agenda for the meeting: Consideration of Indiana Beach Economic Development Financing Documents.
•March 31st, White County Council approves a revolving fund to allow for a $3M incentive package for a qualified buyer of Indiana Beach.
•April 9th, Apex Parks Group files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
•April 21st, Gene Staples is announced as the new owner of Indiana Beach.
The conclusion of the conversation with Mr. Staples will be in the coming days.
This story is copyrighted by Hoosier Media Group, LLC.