At the start of September, the 119-year-old Clementon Lake Park and Splash World amusement park announced that it would close down after one last summer season.
New Jersey assemblyman and Civil War veteran Theodore B. Gibbs and his sons built what would grow into the longstanding amusement and water park in 1907 to drive tourist dollars toward the Philadelphia suburb of Clementon.
Switching hands and going through multiple iterations over the last century, the theme park eventually ran into financial troubles common to many smaller theme parks that struggle with operating costs and the need to continuously invest in ride infrastructure while also drawing in enough traffic. In 2019, Clementon Lake Park closed down to the public for two years after the company defaulted on a $4.5 billion loan from TD Bank.
Clementon Lake Park and Splash World hits auction block in New Jersey
While the park reopened in 2021 after being bought by current owners IB Parks & Entertainment, its finances eventually reached a point where keeping it open became unsustainable. The park closed down permanently on September 7 and, this week, appeared on a local auction marketplace to be sold to the highest bidder.
The bidding will begin on Oct. 19 and start at $1.5 million. Matthew Reis of RealINSIGHT Marketplace is the broker representing the amusement park in the auction.
“Clementon Park & Splash World is a 45+ acre operating amusement and water park fronting Berlin Road in Camden County, the most populous county in Southern New Jersey,” the description of the auction item reads. “Clementon Park & Splash World has more than 110 years of operating history and has been a staple of the local community for generations. The site includes the approximately 23-acre private Clementon Lake and has received numerous upgrades throughout its ownership history.”
The amusement park was expanded significantly in the 1920s with what were then state-of-the-art rides. A fire nearly destroyed the entire site in 1931 while the Splash World water park section was added in July 1993 following a $5 million renovation to modernize the park for the 1990s.
What else to know about the Clementon Lake Park auction
The description goes on to say that the buyer could buy the lot as a business opportunity and keep the park operating or tear it down and use the lot for new development such as a hotel or housing tower.
The current owners previously expressed hope that, given the park’s historical significance to the region, a buyer who wants to keep Clementon Lake Park open will surface.
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“It has been a privilege to care for a place that has meant so much to generations of families,” park management wrote in a farewell Facebook post at the end of last summer. “We are hopeful that we will find a buyer who shares our love for Clementon Park and will carry its history and legacy forward.”
Clementon Lake Park is among a string of regional theme and amusement parks that are closing this year due to a double whammy of high operating costs and dropping attendance.