It is a business acquisition a kid could love - and maybe an adult who's a kid at heart.
The owners of Roaring Springs Water Park in Meridian have purchased Boondocks Fun Center, the largest arcade and recreation center in the valley. The sale closed Jan. 31.
That means children and families who flock to these play palaces will soon be able to buy one ticket to go to both on the same day.
The 17-acre Roaring Springs Waterpark and 8-acre Boondocks Fun Center sit side-by-side on Overland Road. They opened at nearly the same time - Boondocks in 1998, the water park in 1999.
Patrick Morandi, general manager at Roaring Springs and a partner in the business for the past 2-1/2 years, declined to discuss the purchase price.
He said the acquisition of Boondocks has been in the works for three to four months.
"We're very excited about the acquisition and what we can do between the two properties and to promote both facilities," Morandi said. His partner is Tom Nicholson of Meridian.
It was a natural acquisition for the owners of the seasonal water park.
"Everybody asks us what we do at the water park in the winter," Morandi said. "We do a lot of repair, maintenance and putting capital into the park."
The owners are adding a kiddie pool slide and private cabanas, replastering the bottom of the river and expanding food facilities.
The water park draws more than 280,000 visitors each summer.
The park boosted teen attendance last year by spending $200,000 on lights for the pool and grounds and extending hours on Friday nights with H2Overload. That will be expanded to Saturday nights this year.
The decision to sell wasn't easy for the owners of Boondocks, said Damon Day, one of two majority owners.
"We've had a good working relationship ...They've had an understandable interest in developing a year-round draw," he said.
Day said the Boondocks owners had no interest in selling until they heard that the owners of Roaring Springs might build a competing fun center on vacant land next door on Overland.
"That caused us to make a decision," he said. "They have a plan and a desire to develop an entertainment complex there, and we kind of sit in the middle of their plan."
Tiffany Quilici, marketing director for both facilities,
offered a hint of what is to come for the vacant land next to Roaring Springs.
"Restaurant, retail, hotel and other types of family entertainment," Quilici said. "Overland Road has become this corridor of family entertainment - just one place for families to go that's centrally located."
The former Boondocks owners will develop new Boondocks Fun Centers in Colorado and Utah, where they already have two centers, Day said. The deal allows the fun center to continue to be called Boondocks for up to a year. Quilici said the water park has had popular name-the-ride contests, so it may ask the public for help in renaming the center.
Boondocks, which has an arcade, laser tag arena, go-karts and miniature golf, completed a $5.8 million expansion and remodel last spring. It grew to 27,000 square feet from 16,000, Day said.
The fun center now has a much larger laser tag arena, more arcade games, a large new play structure, a new restaurant, an event center for corporate outings and two new go-kart rides.
Morandi said the staffs of both the water park and fun center would be retained and managed separately.
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
