Developer Toll Brothers is scheduled to ask Collier commissioners this afternoon to support a request to replace King Richard's Family Fun Park with 133 new multifamily homes.
Situated on Airport-Pulling Road, the popular 11.3-acre park is owned by Bics Investment Corp. and has been a Naples-area attraction for about 20 years.
The park offers miniature golf, an arcade, batting cages, water rides, roller coasters and go carts.
According to documents submitted to county staff, Toll Brothers would like the land rezoned from urban-mixed use - meaning, urban and residential - to residential PUD.
That would enable the company to juggle the number of homes per acre.
Planning department staff reviewed the project and, in early January, found the proposal compatible and consistent with the future land-use policies in the county's growth management plan.
Today's meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the commission chambers at the Collier County Government Center at the intersection of U.S. 41 East and Airport-Pulling Road in East Naples.
An entrepreneur named Morgan Hughes purchased the park from the Richwine family in 1972 for US$1.2 million (equivalent to $8.74 million in 2023). Hughes relocated several rides to Williams Grove from multiple locations, including the defunct New Jersey Palisades Amusement Park, which closed in 1971. Hughes had not prepared for high water levels, and in June of 1972, shortly after its refurbishment, Williams Grove Amusement Park was nearly destroyed due to Hurricane Agnes and subsequent flooding from nearby Yellow Breeches Creek. Ownership attempted to rebuild what was lost, and the park operated through the end of the 2005 season when the Hughes family decided to focus their attention on the Williams Grove Speedway instead. Hughes, who was in his mid-80s at the time of the park's closure, attempted to sell the property in 2006 to a prospective owner who would keep the park intact and operational. Hughes cited Hershey Entertainment & Resorts and Cedar Fair as potential buyers who could help renew the park.
On January 19, 2007, the nonprofit Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association purchased the southern 90 acres attached to the park, which they had utilized since the 1950s, for $2.25 million. Today, the organization hosts fairs and many offerings year-round. During 2006 and the coming years, several rides were auctioned off from main portion of park. Hughes passed away on April 12, 2008, at the age of 88.[8] His daughter, Kathy Hughes, became the owner of the former park as well as the current speedway.
In 2016, after being closed for just over a decade, Williams Grove Amusement Park reopened for Halloween night. This event, called "Terror in the Park", took guests on a guided walk through the dimly lit grounds, passing various scare actors. The event was organized by Halloween Park, who charged $45 per visitor.[9] As of 2024, The Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association is raising money to move the old carousel building from the park to their adjacent grounds.
In 2001, the park opened Wildcat, a Schwarzkopf Wildcat that previously operated at Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Upon the park's closing, Wildcat was relocated to Adventure Park USA in New Market, Maryland.
Two smaller coasters also operated at the park. One of these coasters was Kiddie Coaster, which operated from 1992 until the park's closure. It had previously operated at Fantasy Farm Amusement Park in Monroe, Ohio. Another coaster was Little Dipper, which operated from 1950 until 1963.
The park featured a Pretzel dark ride that opened in 1942, called Laff in the Dark. The ride was converted into a new dark ride called Dante's Inferno in 1985. Dante's Inferno underwent a complete refurbishment during the park's final year of operation. The ride building is still standing today. The park also used to have a walk-through funhouse called Allotria.
In the early 1980s, the park opened one of the first water slides in the area. The slide's platform is still standing, although the slides themselves have since been removed.
The park's lake was the location for many boat rides over its history.