Owner of Kennywood Park, Idlewild and Sandcastle opening support office in Pittsburgh
The owner of three of Pittsburgh’s amusement parks is opening a support facility here in March.
Palace Entertainment, which owns Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, as well as Idlewild & SoakZone in Ligonier and Sandcastle Waterpark in Homestead, is moving some operations from Newport Beach, Calif., to a temporary spot in Monroeville, before permanently locating in West Mifflin over the next 18 to 24 months.
There is available space in the nearby former Kmart building, which Kennywood owns, Rick Stammel, vice-president of theme parks for Palace Entertainment, told the Tribune-Review on Thursday.
Finance and information technology will remain in the existing Newport Beach location.
This decision will allow the company to be more closely aligned with the parks in Southwestern Pennsylvania, along with the company’s numerous key properties in the Northeast United States, according to a news release.
It will be staffed by roughly 25 executive and professional employees.
The company will soon begin the search for positions such as marketing, sales, legal, food and beverage, construction and maintenance. Kennywood is also in the process of hiring a general manager, Stammel said.
Palace Entertainment owns and operates 21 major entertainment venues across 10 states. It is owned by Parques Reunidos, based in Madrid, Spain.
The company chose to come to Pittsburgh because it is easily accessible to three parks in the area as well as others on the eastern side of the country, Stammel said. He said 70% of the company’s operations are on the East Coast such as Lake Compounce in Bristol, Conn., Splish Splash in New York, Story Land & Living Shorts Aquarium in Glen, N.H., and Dutch Wonderland & the Cartoon Network Hotel in Lancaster, Pa.
“Pittsburgh is such a cool city,” Stammel said. “It has diversity and nightlife and things to do. We also like that we can impact the economic development in West Mifflin.”
He said they are continuing to be committed to being more competitive in terms of seasonal wages.
What are you doing this summer? Why not join our Team for an unforgettable summer of fun for yourself and hundreds of thousands of Kennywood Guests!
Learn more about our job opportunities: https://t.co/4mVVxmFUkC pic.twitter.com/HccLXYafkE
— Kennywood Park (@Kenny_Kangaroo) February 6, 2020
“We want our customers experience to be the best it can be,” Stammel said. “And we want to keep all the parks fresh with new ideas.”
A complement to the Steel Curtain roller coaster that opened last summer is the Steelers Experience, an interactive area that will feature exclusive merchandise, skill games and food is expected to open in spring at Kennywood.
Sandcastle plans to debut the Bombs Away waterslide this summer.
“Positioning our support teams in the Steel City better aligns our entire company to create great guest experiences at Kennywood and across our unique portfolio of 21 parks and entertainment centers in the United States and Australia,” said chief operating officer John Reilly in a statement. Reilly will be relocating to Pittsburgh.
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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