Historic Fresno amusement park shutting down 6 months after reopening. What’s next?

Joshua Tehee
·3 min read
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Playland in Roeding Park is promised to be reopening on June 1, according to Davey Helm, whose company Helm and Sons Amusements purchased it and has been furiously updating and sprucing it up.

Six months after a grand reopening, Fresno’s historic Playland park is closing again.

Its final day is Jan. 14, management confirmed on Thursday.

Until then, it will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (including New Year’s Eve).

The park’s operator, Helm and Sons Amusements, more than hinted at the possibility of a closure back in October, citing low attendance and an lack of fundraising that couldn’t keep up with employee payroll, much less the maintenance and upgrade needs of the 68-year old facility.

The company did try.

It lowered prices, adjusted hours and offered specials and other events. In recent weeks it had run a series of Pop Culture Experiences, with live music, cosplay and gaming. But it was also hit by a series of break-ins and thefts, which, according to police, included the loss of two statues depicting a scene from the Three Little Pigs.

Helm and Sons

Helm and Sons Amusements was brought in last summer to oversee operations at Playland, which had not reopened from the pandemic and was in need of an infusion of money and expertise.

The family-owned company seemed a perfect fit. It has been operating since the 1950s (when Playland first opened) and has major contracts to provide carnival rides and attractions for several state and county fairs, including the California Mid State Fair and Tulare County Fair.

Along with fixing the park’s original rides, Helm and Sons promised to swap in new rides and attractions from its vast portfolio. The company spent more than $600,000 in facility upgrades and repairs in its six months and installed several new attractions, including a massive gondola Ferris wheel.

What happens next?

It’s still too early to tell if this is the true end for Playland, according to Bruce Batti, board chair of the nonprofit that oversees the park and its sister park Storyland.

While Helm and Sons had not yet officially notified the nonprofit of its intentions to close, Batti said the board was aware of the financial struggles.

“It’s not blindsiding us.”

The park is not saddled with any debt and is, in many ways, in better shape that in was a year ago. There is a chance the board will seek another operator for the park, Batti said. But it will be looking at all options for the best use of that piece of land.

“We’ve committed to doing something that is going to end up benefiting families in Fresno,” he said.

If a Playland-style amusement park is no-longer viable, “that would be one of those hard discussions.”

Storyland plans new exhibits in 2024

The closure will not affect Storyland.

While the neighboring parks fall under the same nonprofit, they operate separately, Batti said.

In fact, the board signed its operating agreement with Helm and Sons, in part, so it could put its focus on Storyland.

That has been a success.

In 2024, the park will see several new exhibits.

Two of those — a pirate ship and a Jack and the Beanstalk exhibit — are ready to be built. Two others are in the design phase, including a Hmong cultural exhibit and a Hispanic kitchen exhibit that is being created in collaboration with poet Gary Soto.