Park Profile
Chalk up a victory for tradition and nostalgia. After 62 years of creating memories of fun times in Albany, New York, Hoffman's Playland ceased operations following the 2014 season. Just as the rides were set to go to auction, another local business stepped in. Paul Ruben shares the story of how a furniture warehouse became home to America’s newest amusement park
Albany suburb of Latham. Operators Ruth and Dave Hoffman were keen to retire, but after a year potential interested parties came and went,
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Playland signage before and after the move
and the future was looking bleak. Had the rides gone to auction as planned, they would likely be scattered to any number of buyers. In stepped Jeff Sperber, owner of Huck Finn’s
Warehouse, a 250,000-square-feet (23,226 sq m) furniture Huck Finn’s Playland America's newest amusement park
store, which had been filling area homes with furnishings for 50 years. Now it would begin to fill hearts. After making sure the park could be everything it has always been to the community, Huck Finn's moved the Hoffman’s 17 rides (and even the park’s old name sign) next door to its facility and opened America's newest park, albeit one without any new rides. At Huck Finn's Playland, memories continue to be made. "We built Playland to keep the community tradition of a local kiddie park alive and well," explains general manager Eric Brazee.“ People enjoy it because it is a time honoured tradition in the Capital District to bring children to the wonderful family park. The public reaction so far has been great and met with much enthusiasm.” Brazee believes the most appealing part of Playland is
Playland's
rides The following former Hoffman’s Playland attractions are available again for guest to ride Huck Finn’s Playland: Train ride (Chance), Little Wheel (Eli Bridge), Jets (Herschell), The Umbrella (Hampton), Caterpillar (Herschell), 4x4 Trucks (Venture Rides), M-G-R (Chance), Balloon flight (Bradley & Kay), Boats (Herschell), Helicopter (Herschell), Red Baron (Bradley & Kay), Rock-Spin-Roll (Hampton), Roller Coaster (Herschell), Scrambler (Eli Bridge), Paratrooper (Hrubetz), Big Wheel (Eli Bridge), Tilt a Whirl (Sellner).
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that guests don't need to stay an entire day there. They can buy as many tickets as needed and stay as long as they wish. The tickets are good all season, so they can return at a later date. There is no admission or parking fee. Unlike other parks that have failed in the past few years, Brazee believes Playland will be successful because the community wanted it to live on. Their plans to expand the park will help insure success.
The park’s GM is not new to the industry. Before opening
Huck Finn's Playland, he worked for 12 years at Hoffman's Playland, including two years in ride operations and 10 in management. Smartly, when owner Jeff Sperber bought Hoffman's, he also enticed Brazee to make the move along with the rides. Brazee maintains that they have all the same rides and food as the old park. Almost all the same rides, that is. They sold the Zamperla Samba Balloon ride before moving, and the Lusse bumper cars are in storage and will be added at a later date. "Huck Finn’s Playland is different," Brazee notes, "in that the layout is more stretched out over a longer narrow plot of
RIGHT: General manager Eric Brazee was persauded to make the move from Hoffman’s to Huck Finn’s
land with more walking space available. We have 13 kiddie rides and four major rides. The most popular attraction is the train. Everyone rides it as a first or last ride." The new look park employs as many as 100 seasonal
employees and several full-time management. The target audience is families with children between the ages of three and 12, but Brazee has also noticed a synergy between the park and the furniture store next door. “We get several people stopping in the park after a day of shopping for new furniture, and vice versa." According to Jeff Sperber, furniture store traffic is up about 28% since the park opened. To help create that crossover traffic, Huck Finn’s located the amusement park arcade in the store, giving park attendees a chance to get out of heat and maybe do a little shopping while there. Some come to take their kids on the rollercoaster and go home with a new table and chairs. Others dangle the park as an incentive for their children, telling them if they behave in the store, they can ride the rides afterward. “The reception has been phenomenal,” said Sperber. “It’s amazing how appreciative everyone is about us keeping the Playland alive.”
hucksplayland.com
ore than 20,000 area residents had joined a group committed to save the beloved Hoffman’s Playland in the
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