Bonfante Gardens theme park ends successful year with eye to
future improvements
After years of uncertainty, Bonfante Gardens finally seems to
have found the right track. The local theme park is managed with a
unique intersection of profit, non-profit and city entities. As
they enter their third operating year, the horticultural amusement
park made enough money to meet their debt obligations for the
year.
While Michael Bonfante, the former owner of local Nob Hill
Grocery stores, managed the park when it opened in 2001, during its
second year of operation a community board of directors was put
together to help manage the park. Currently, the seven board
members volunteer their time and pay for park-related costs, such
as phone calls out of pocket.
Bonfante Gardens theme park ends successful year with eye to future improvements
After years of uncertainty, Bonfante Gardens finally seems to have found the right track. The local theme park is managed with a unique intersection of profit, non-profit and city entities. As they enter their third operating year, the horticultural amusement park made enough money to meet their debt obligations for the year.
While Michael Bonfante, the former owner of local Nob Hill Grocery stores, managed the park when it opened in 2001, during its second year of operation a community board of directors was put together to help manage the park. Currently, the seven board members volunteer their time and pay for park-related costs, such as phone calls out of pocket.
“It was established to provide a community-wide view,” said Bob Kraemer, board president.
After six months, the board feared the park would fold.
“We needed to make enough to pay the bonds,” Kraemer said. “The park was built far too expensive and at interest.”
In 2003, the board sat down with their bondholders and a certified public accountant to restructure their debt. The city of Gilroy agreed to sell municipal bonds to raise funds for the park. The board members knew in order to turn around the future of the park, they would need professional managers. They signed a contract with Paramount Parks, Inc., the company that owns and operates Paramount’s Great America in Santa Clara.
“We had to get a contract that would allow a profit and non-profit to work together,” Kraemer said. “Breaking the rules of a non-profit could have jeopardized our status.”
Paramount helped stabilize the park and in just the second operating year under Paramount’s management, Bonfante Gardens brought in enough money to pay their debt for the year.
“We knew they were experts at running the park,” Kraemer said. “Expenses came under control. They increased attendance and revenue.”
The key number for the park is their net revenue minus expenses before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA. For the 10-month operating season ending Dec. 31, 2005, the park ended with an EBITDA of $1.89 million.
Holly Perez, communications manager for the park, attributes the surplus to expense reductions and price increases. After their debt is paid off, any extra revenues of the park will go straight to the City of Gilroy community services department to support local recreation.
As the park’s financials stabilize, they are looking toward future improvements.
During the off-season, the board members decided to install an information kiosk near the carousel in the park. The kiosk will offer information about horticulture for visitors, from plant life to butterflies, Kraemer said.
“We had a butterfly exhibit, but only a few people could get around it,” Kraemer said. “We want something so kids or adults can touch and feel.”
The kiosk will help the board members meet their educational mission and they hope to increase their outreach with local school kids.
This year, they hosted the Second Annual Junior Horticulture Day at the park for local fourth grade science classes.
“We want the whole Bay Area to send their kids here,” Kraemer said.
The group is focusing on fundraising and grant applications that will help them open the park to local science classes. This year the Junior Horticulture day cost $20,000 for the program that included free T-shirts for the participating kids. The board is working on a development plan that will get regional donors involved in projects at the park.
In the meantime, they are focusing on maintenance and improvements at the park.
“We will be sprucing up the park and gardens,” Perez said, as the park kicks off the first of three years of improvements. “We now advertise that we have four parks, but we are adding two.”
Claudia’s Garden, Bonfante’s tribute to his wife, will be refreshed before the park opens for its 2006 season.
“We are moving bigger trees and plants,” Perez said. “We are adding splashes of color.”
The board has also voted to increase the number of docents, or volunteer tour guides and teachers, in the park.
“We want to have the community to feel ownership of the park,” Kraemer said. “Bonfante Gardens needs to be thought of as the Garlic Festival – as a signature venue for the community in South County.”
