Boardwalk and Baseball
Encyclopedia
Boardwalk and Baseball was a theme park built near Haines City, Florida
, United States
, on the east corner of the intersection of US 27 and Interstate 4
. It replaced Circus World at the same location, and was owned by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (now Harcourt, a division of Reed Elsevier
). It opened on February 14, 1987, and closed January 17, 1990.
The park recycled many of Circus World's rides and exhibits. The petting zoos were removed, the rides and shows were rethemed, and they built Baseball City Stadium
on the site. There were several exhibits that borrowed artifacts from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
. HBJ attracted the Kansas City Royals
from Fort Myers, Florida
, to make Baseball City Stadium their new spring training
home and the site of their Class A
Florida State League
affiliate. The Royals also had a Rookie-level affiliate in the Gulf Coast League
, one of two lowest level minor leagues in the U.S. (along with the Arizona League
).
In addition, ESPN
taped a quiz bowl-style game show
, Boardwalk and Baseball's Super Bowl of Sports Trivia, on the site. The show aired in 1988 and 1989 and featured single-elimination tournaments of three-person teams representing U.S. colleges and universities. Chris Berman hosted the show. Washington State University
won the 1988 tournament.
Although the park was considered superior to its predecessor, Boardwalk and Baseball was predicted to fail by industry observers at the April 1987 grand opening. The park's standard carnival rides were considered no match for a Disney competitor. The Orlando Sentinel
quoted both employees and industry experts who attributed its closure in 1990 to inept management by CEO Richard Howard. The park was quickly run into financial ruins within 18 months of its grand opening. At that point, employee layoffs and reduced park hours were used to try to cut costs. The park closed before sunset for almost the entire year, rendering the costly antique style gas lighting useless (that cost over $1 million to install in 1987).
stadium
for a Single A baseball team, yet invested almost nothing in new rides and attractions throughout the park's life. The park had exactly the same roster of rides and attractions from opening day in April 1987 to its closure in 1990. Permits and plans for new roller coasters were made but never implemented. The fatal flaw of the park was a stagnant attraction roster and an advertising budget 1/15th of its closest rival (Disney) -- the only ride different from the previous Circus World theme park was the Grand Rapids flume
. Had the new steel coaster that was planned been built, Boardwalk and Baseball would likely not have gone down in history as the first corporate theme park to close (as many observers suggest in its Orlando Sentinel retrospective article). After all, the park was considered to have the only "real" roller coasters in the Orlando
area (Disney only had junior coasters and this was a decade before Islands of Adventure
was built). The Hurricane and Shuttle Loop were significant roller coasters by 1987 standards, but the $25 million dollar renovation made in 1987 didn't pay for a single attraction competitive with Disney.
HBJ sold its theme park assets (which included SeaWorld
and Cypress Gardens
) to Busch Entertainment Corporation
on September 28, 1989, and Busch closed Boardwalk and Baseball on January 17, 1990. Most of the park was demolished except for the stadium and a building that held an IMAX
theatre (the very first one at Circus World). The Baseball City Royals (FSL) were sold following the 1992 season and moved to Daytona Beach, Florida
, becoming the Daytona Cubs
, where they remain to this day. The GCL Royals, who had moved at the same time to Ft. Myers, returned to Baseball City in 2000, for their final three years in Florida, before being replaced by the Arizona League Royals. The Royals moved their spring training home and entire Florida operations department to Surprise, Arizona
in 2003. The stadium and theatre were demolished soon afterward.
After sitting idle for over a decade, the land was sold to developer Victor Posner in 2001. Posner Park
, a retail complex with several big box stores
, opened on the site in 2008, eliminating the final traces of the long gone theme park.
Haines City, Florida
Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 13,174 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population estimated by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida is 18,762. Haines City is the third most populous city in Polk County, Florida...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, on the east corner of the intersection of US 27 and Interstate 4
Interstate 4
Interstate 4 is a intrastate Highway located entirely within the state of Florida, United States. It goes from Interstate 275 in Tampa, Florida to Interstate 95 at Daytona Beach, Florida . It also has the Florida Department of Transportation designation of State Road 400, but only a small...
. It replaced Circus World at the same location, and was owned by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (now Harcourt, a division of Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier is a publisher and information provider operating in the science, medical, legal, risk and business sectors. It is listed on several of the world's major stock exchanges. It is a FTSE 100 and FT500 Global company...
). It opened on February 14, 1987, and closed January 17, 1990.
The park recycled many of Circus World's rides and exhibits. The petting zoos were removed, the rides and shows were rethemed, and they built Baseball City Stadium
Baseball City Stadium
Baseball City Stadium was a stadium located in Davenport, Florida that was in use from 1988-2002. It was a portion of the Boardwalk and Baseball theme park. The two facilities adjoined at the intersection of Interstate 4 and Route 27, about 25 miles southwest of Orlando. The facility had five...
on the site. There were several exhibits that borrowed artifacts from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
. HBJ attracted the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
from Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 62,298 in the 2010 census, a 29.23 percent increase over the 2000 figure....
, to make Baseball City Stadium their new spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
home and the site of their Class A
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
Florida State League
Florida State League
The Florida State League is a Class A-Advanced minor league baseball league operating in the state of Florida. They are one of three leagues currently operating in Class A-Advanced, the third highest of six classifications of minor leagues...
affiliate. The Royals also had a Rookie-level affiliate in the Gulf Coast League
Gulf Coast League
The Gulf Coast League is a minor league baseball league which operates in Florida. It is a Rookie League, with a season running from mid-June to late August. The season is 60 games long and teams in the league are divided into three divisions, East, North and South...
, one of two lowest level minor leagues in the U.S. (along with the Arizona League
Arizona League
The Arizona League is a minor league baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona. It is a rookie-level professional baseball league run by Major League Baseball since 1989. Games are played at the spring training complexes of the team's parent organizations from mid-June until the...
).
In addition, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
taped a quiz bowl-style game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
, Boardwalk and Baseball's Super Bowl of Sports Trivia, on the site. The show aired in 1988 and 1989 and featured single-elimination tournaments of three-person teams representing U.S. colleges and universities. Chris Berman hosted the show. Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
won the 1988 tournament.
Although the park was considered superior to its predecessor, Boardwalk and Baseball was predicted to fail by industry observers at the April 1987 grand opening. The park's standard carnival rides were considered no match for a Disney competitor. The Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
quoted both employees and industry experts who attributed its closure in 1990 to inept management by CEO Richard Howard. The park was quickly run into financial ruins within 18 months of its grand opening. At that point, employee layoffs and reduced park hours were used to try to cut costs. The park closed before sunset for almost the entire year, rendering the costly antique style gas lighting useless (that cost over $1 million to install in 1987).
Decline & closure
Howard spent millions building the ultimate baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
for a Single A baseball team, yet invested almost nothing in new rides and attractions throughout the park's life. The park had exactly the same roster of rides and attractions from opening day in April 1987 to its closure in 1990. Permits and plans for new roller coasters were made but never implemented. The fatal flaw of the park was a stagnant attraction roster and an advertising budget 1/15th of its closest rival (Disney) -- the only ride different from the previous Circus World theme park was the Grand Rapids flume
Flume
A flume is an open artificial water channel, in the form of a gravity chute, that leads water from a diversion dam or weir completely aside a natural flow. Often, the flume is an elevated box structure that follows the natural contours of the land. These have been extensively used in hydraulic...
. Had the new steel coaster that was planned been built, Boardwalk and Baseball would likely not have gone down in history as the first corporate theme park to close (as many observers suggest in its Orlando Sentinel retrospective article). After all, the park was considered to have the only "real" roller coasters in the Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
area (Disney only had junior coasters and this was a decade before Islands of Adventure
Islands of Adventure
Universal's Islands of Adventure is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened May 28, 1999 as part of an expansion that, along with CityWalk Entertainment District, the Portofino Bay Hotel, and Hard Rock hotel, converted Universal Studios Florida into the Universal Orlando Resort...
was built). The Hurricane and Shuttle Loop were significant roller coasters by 1987 standards, but the $25 million dollar renovation made in 1987 didn't pay for a single attraction competitive with Disney.
HBJ sold its theme park assets (which included SeaWorld
SeaWorld
SeaWorld is a United States chain of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, and animal theme parks owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The parks feature captive orca, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals. There are operations in Orlando,...
and Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens was an American theme park near Winter Haven, Florida, that operated from 1936 to 2009.-History:Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park, Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie...
) to Busch Entertainment Corporation
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
on September 28, 1989, and Busch closed Boardwalk and Baseball on January 17, 1990. Most of the park was demolished except for the stadium and a building that held an IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
theatre (the very first one at Circus World). The Baseball City Royals (FSL) were sold following the 1992 season and moved to Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
, becoming the Daytona Cubs
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs are a minor league baseball team based in Daytona Beach, Florida. The team plays in the Florida State League , and is the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs major league club. The Cubs play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in 1914, the park seats 5,100 fans.The...
, where they remain to this day. The GCL Royals, who had moved at the same time to Ft. Myers, returned to Baseball City in 2000, for their final three years in Florida, before being replaced by the Arizona League Royals. The Royals moved their spring training home and entire Florida operations department to Surprise, Arizona
Surprise, Arizona
Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. The population was 30,848 at the 2000 census; however, rapid growth has boosted the city's population to 117,517 at the 2010 census, an increase of 281%...
in 2003. The stadium and theatre were demolished soon afterward.
After sitting idle for over a decade, the land was sold to developer Victor Posner in 2001. Posner Park
Posner Park
Posner Park is a $500 million dollar mixed-use development in Polk County, Florida. It is located at the intersection of Interstate 4 and US Highway 27, about 6 miles north of Haines City...
, a retail complex with several big box stores
Big-box store
A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store...
, opened on the site in 2008, eliminating the final traces of the long gone theme park.
External links
- Boardwalk and Baseball at Florida's Lost Tourist Attractions
- Boardwalk and Baseball Gallery ACTWON's Info Site
- Dizzy Rambler's Retrospective Boardwalk and Baseball History