Clementon Park and Splash World

Clementon Park and Splash World (previously Clementon Lake Park) is an amusement park and water park in Clementon, New Jersey. It is one of the world's oldest operating amusement parks and is one of only thirteen trolley parks left in operation. It was independently owned and operated for several decades, and was purchased in 2011 by Clementon Lake Holdings, a subsidiary of Premier Parks, LLC.

The park closed in September 2019, and was put up for auction on March 23, 2021. The park in its entirety was purchased by IB Parks & Entertainment, a company operated by Gene Staples, with plans to reopen later in 2021.^[1] The park returned to operations on June 25, 2021.

The park was founded in 1907 by New Jersey assemblyman Theodore B. Gibbs^[2] and his sons, Edgar B. and Willard. Theodore Gibbs was a Civil War veteran and held many local offices, including postmaster and sheriff. He was also a member of the Atlantic City Railroad's Board of Directors.^[3]

The amusement park was a popular destination in the early decades of the twentieth century with a trolley running from the city of Camden to the park's entrance. In the early twentieth century, amusement parks were built at the end of trolley lines to encourage weekend ridership.^[4]

In the 1920s, the park had grown to include a nickelodeon movie theater, a "dancing casino", a steam-driven carousel, the Jack Rabbit roller coaster, and a "razzle-dazzle" ride. The Jack Rabbit coaster was considered state-of-the-art when added to the park in 1919 for the cost of $80,000 (equal to $1,485,605 today).^[2]

On June 22, 1931, a fire almost destroyed the amusement park. According to The New York Times, "a vivid pyrotechnic display and the successive reports of exploding cartridges added to the spectacular aspect of a fire which swept through part of Clementon Park, a South Jersey pleasure resort." The fire had reached the cartridge supply of the shooting gallery, setting off explosions. Firemen from six adjoining towns fought the fire, which was contained to the shooting gallery and a "pretzel ride". The damages were estimated to be $2,000.

On September 20, 1936, Philadelphian boxer Al Ettore trained at Clementon Park for the upcoming heavyweight title fight against Joe Louis. Many fans visited the park to see Ettore train, causing a 100-foot (30 m) section of grandstand to collapse under the weight of about 500 spectators. No one was seriously injured.^[2]

Throughout the 1930s to the 1950s, Clementon Park's ballroom hosted dance marathons that were hosted by various celebrities such as Red Skelton and Dick Clark.^[2] Clementon Park survived the Great Depression by holding these marathons, offering a $100 prize to couples who lasted the longest.

In 1977, the Gibbs family sold Clementon Lake Park to Abram Baker. Baker owned a nightclub in Miami, Florida, and the Fascination Parlour in Atlantic City, New Jersey. From 1955 to 1968, he also owned Glen Echo Park, Maryland.^[5] In 1979, operation of the park was turned over to Larry Baker, Abram's son.

In 2007, the park was purchased by Adrenaline Family Entertainment for an undisclosed amount. Over the next three years, Adrenaline Family Entertainment made major renovations and added new attractions to the park. Laguna Kahuna, a large interactive water play area, was added in 2008, followed by Ring of Fire and Thunder Drop in 2010, and Torpedo Rush in 2011.

On November 21, 2011, the park was purchased by Gary Story and Kieran Burke of Premier Parks, LLC through a new subsidiary, Clementon Lake Holdings.^[6][7] Big Wave Bay, a 23,000 square foot (2,136 sq m) wave pool, was added for the 2012 season.^[8]

For the 2019 season, the park added four new rides: a swinging ship, a Tilt-A-Whirl, a Scrambler, and a children's coaster called Dragon Coaster.^[9] The coaster was relocated from Bowcraft Amusement Park in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, which had closed permanently the season beforehand.^[10]

On September 8, 2019, the park abruptly closed without warning (despite tickets having been sold for the next season's events), and other planned events later in the season were suddenly canceled.^[11][12]

Following the closure, TD Bank filed a lawsuit against the park owners for failing to make payments on a $4.5 million loan. On January 25, 2021, a court order granted Howard Samuels and Rally Capital Advisors receivership of the park.^[13][14]

On February 19, 2021, Capital Recovery Group, acting on behalf of its client, Howard Samuels, issued a press release announcing the sale of the park at a public auction to be held on March 23, 2021.^[13] During this time, it was also reported that a local investing group, Fresh Development, was in the process of raising the $7 million needed to purchase and reopen the park.^[15]

On March 23, 2021, the park auction commenced, and the park in its entirety was sold to an undisclosed buyer for $2,370,000.^[16] The buyer was quickly revealed to be real estate developer Gene Staples, who had bought and reopened the recently closed Indiana Beach amusement park in Monticello, Indiana, the year before.^[17] Clementon Park and Splash World reopened on June 25, 2021. All of the water park's attractions were open, but a limited number of the amusement rides were in operation. Discounted admission tickets were offered through end of June.^[18]

• Official website
• IB Parks & Entertainment
• Clementon Park and Splash World at the Roller Coaster DataBase
• Clementon Amusement Park aerial photo
• Clementon's entry on ultimaterollercoaster.com