Council members will hear the first hard details next week about
how City Hall could scrape together enough money to buy Gilroy
Gardens Family Theme Park.
Gilroy – Council members will hear the first hard details next week about how City Hall could scrape together enough money to buy Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park.
After two months of research into a possible purchase of the west Gilroy park, elected officials will hear the first reports from a team of bond experts and city attorneys during a closed session Monday night. No formal action is planned for the meeting, and council plans to publicly disclose much of the information at a press briefing the next morning. Details will be published in the Dipatch Wednesday.
Bond experts and counsel have spent recent weeks feeling out investors about selling some or all of the $12.4 million in bonds issued by Gilroy Gardens. The perennially cash-strapped park off Hecker Pass has asked the city to consider paying off its debt and taking control of its 536 acres – a move that could save the bucolic site from development and vastly increase the city’s park space.
Officials hope that investors will sell their bonds back early at less than a dollar for dollar ratio. Initial findings suggest there is interest among some bondholders, Mayor Al Pinheiro said Friday.
“I expect a report (Monday) that gives us a sense of choice, a little bit more clear of a path as to what our options are,” Pinheiro said. “We will come back on Tuesday and give the community as much information as we can. This is a process in which we will give the community as much input as possible.”
The park, which changed its name in February from Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park, opened for a seventh season in March and has enough money to pay creditors through most of next year. The biggest looming concern for park officials is a November 2008 deadline to boost reserve funds from $438,000 to $1.3 million. If they fail to meet the mark, they could find themselves at the mercy of investors.
That leaves less than two years for City Hall to sort out the legal and financial issues surrounding the land sale. Topping the list of concerns is whether Gilroy Gardens, now incorporated as a nonprofit, is even permitted to transfer ownership of the land. The property currently serves as collateral for bondholders and it remains unclear under what terms the agency could sign over the deeds.
Officials have said that if they do proceed with a purchase, the public will be invited to help decide the fate of the park. Some city leaders have suggested preserving the site as Gilroy’s equivalent of Golden Gate Park, though they have not ruled out development for portions of the land or a closure of the theme park itself.
Since announcing the deal in March, the park’s involvement has been limited to providing financial information, according to board president Bob Kraemer.
“We went to the city because we felt it was a situation that they ought to explore, that could well be beneficial for them,” Kraemer said. “Obviously, it has advantages for us. I’m optimistic, but it really is up to them. If it doesn’t fit the city, it’s not going to go forward. If it does, then the real work begins.”
