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Cypress Gardens Manager Signs On

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By BILLY TOWNSEND, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 3, 2008

WINTER HAVEN - As workers sprayed insulating foam to protect newly planted flowers from cold weather Wednesday, the new owners of Cypress Gardens announced a break with the park's recent history and said they're in business for the long-term.

Rob Harper and Brian Philpot, through their Mulberry-based company, bought Cypress Gardens in October for $16.8 million from previous owner and operator Kent Buescher after a bankruptcy auction.

At the time, the new owners said they planned to keep Buescher on to run the park. They announced Wednesday that has changed. Harper and Philpot announced a deal with Orlando-based Baker Leisure Group to manage the park's day-to-day operations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Baker Leisure Group is headed by president and CEO Steve Baker, a former Walt Disney company executive with 40 years of theme park experience. He formed his own company in 1988.

The company offers management and consulting services, ranging from development of business plans to merchandising to day-to-day operations. The company said it has worked on such projects as managing Coca-Cola's Olympic City during the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta and the Al Shallal theme park in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which Baker Leisure helped plan and now operates. The company also said it handles international franchise negotiations for Hard Rock Cafe.
Philpot would not comment on why Buescher was not kept on to run the park other than to say, "It just didn't work out." Buescher could not be reached for comment.

Baker said Buescher left the park in good condition with a solid mixture of rides and attractions. He said any changes would be subtle.

"The park's not broken," Baker said, adding that no staffing cuts are planned. Cypress Gardens employs as many as 600, depending on the time of year.

Baker said he considers Cypress Gardens understaffed, as are most theme parks. "We're hiring," Harper said.
Philpot and Harper met Baker in November at a theme park convention. They said they like the company's experience and its ties to Central Florida. Buescher's headquarters had been in Valdosta, Ga., where he also operated the Wild Adventures theme park. That park was sold at auction last year.
Philpot and Harper have no prior theme park management experience.

Mired in debt, Buescher's Adventure Parks Group entered federal bankruptcy protection more than a year ago. Buescher blamed financial problems on the theme park's insurer, which declined to pay for about $25 million in hurricane damage to Cypress Gardens in 2004.

Harper and Philpot said Wednesday any uncertainty about the park is now behind it. They point to new investment in landscaping made possible by the sale and emphasized that the entire park is now open each day. Prior to the sale, Buescher had experimented with opening only the gardens portion of the park during slow periods for the park's family business.
Philpot said the park had a "great" December in attendance, with 82,248 visitors. However, that is down from December 2006's figure of 99,283.

After years of struggling, Cypress Gardens closed in April 2003. Shortly thereafter, Buescher, the state of Florida and Polk County devised a $20.5 million plan to purchase the park from its previous owner and revive it. Buescher contributed $7 million, Florida pitched in about $11 million and the county put up about $2.5 million. As part of that purchase, the state received a conservation easement on the park that protects it from development.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at wtownsend@tampatrib.com or (863) 284-1409.

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