Holiday Lights event at Bonfante Gardens brings delight to
all
Gilroy – Officials at Bonfante Gardens hope that its first ever Holiday Lights spectacle, which drew a large turnout for its opening this weekend, will delight kids and adults, as well as the people who have invested millions of dollars in the financially beleaguered theme park.
More than 300,000 holiday lights sparkled in the night at Bonfante Gardens this weekend as part of the horticulturally-themed park’s holiday packaging. Visitors entering the park first passed through Candy Cane Lane – a tunnel of light-covered trees leading to a bridge lined with illuminated candy canes.
“There were lights all over the place – in the waterfalls, on the trestles, in the lake itself,” said Bob Kraemer, president of the park’s board of directors. “It’s spectacular.”
Susan Valenta, head of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, has bought season passes for her grandchildren since Bonfante opened three years ago. She spent a “a wonderful evening” this weekend with her grandchildren on attractions such as the Rattlesnake (a “mini” roller coaster) and the South County Holiday Drive, a tour in a classic-car replica through illuminated scenes from the 12 Days of Christmas.
“The bridge going in is quite dazzling,” she said.
The park has 19 of its 22 rides open to the public.
“I really hope that once the valley hears how wonderful it is that they’ll go see it,” Valenta said. “I think it will become the area’s Christmas in the Park.”
It appears the word may have already gotten out, as a packed parking lot and swelling lines on Friday night motivated park officials to call in extra workers the next day.
“I don’t think anybody could have known what to expect,” Kraemer said, “but overall we were very satisfied with the number of people we had there.”
He added: “I’d be very surprised if there are other parks in the U.S. that exceed this one in beauty in general. This park was really designed for this type of event.”
According to Kraemer, park officials included the holiday attraction in their planning prior to the park’s opening three year’s ago, but timing conflicts prevented it from taking place until this season.
The success of the event could factor into the park’s ability to continue operating as it struggles to pay off millions of dollars in debt.
Bonfante Gardens paid more than $1 million in bond interest in November, its first scheduled payment under a debt-restructuring program designed to keep creditors at bay and stave off foreclosure. The park currently owes about $70 million to creditors, but has posted nearly $23 million in losses during its first three seasons of operation, according to financial statements released in September.
To help restructure Bonfante Gardens’ debt, the Gilroy City Council in August unanimously approved the park’s request for 99 housing permits on 33 acres, an exception to the city’s growth-control law. Kraemer said revenues from the home sales will reduce the park’s current debt to a more-manageable $14 million. City approvals for those housing units – a precondition for any sale – are expected by the middle of 2005, according to Kraemer.
He said the Holiday Lights events do not directly affect the debt-repayment plan, but some of the parks creditors may see it as a measure of their investment’s health.
Bondholder Bud Byrnes, a former state-level technical adviser on municipal bonds who represents holders of $2 million worth of Bonfante Gardens’ debt, has said the city overestimated the amount the park could earn.
A successful Holiday Lights event could improve the park’s long-term financial prospects and help restore confidence among creditors like Byrnes, who remain cautious about the park’s ability to make good on its debt. Kraemer acknowledged that the Holiday Lights event “is an important part of this year’s operations and into the future.”
In the meantime, the park is pursuing an aggressive marketing strategy in the greater Bay Area, running advertisements and promotions in print, radio and television media.
While Kraemer expressed hope that Holiday Lights “will bring in lots of people this year,” he expected it would do increasingly better with each passing season. It is a type of event that spreads “by word of mouth,” according to Kraemer.
“I hope that it builds on its reputation,” he said.
