Parrot Island still making money despite fewer operating days

FORT SMITH — Parrot Island Waterpark still made money this year despite not being open for as many days as past years.

The city Board of Directors and Sebastian County Quorum Court were briefed on the 2019 season and proposed budget for the park during a joint study session Thursday.

Richard Coleman, CEO and principal of American Resort Management, the company operating the water park for the city and county, said the park had only 77 operating days this year, significantly less than the 96 in 2018. This, in turn, affected the attendance at the park, which was 89,703 compared with the 96,670 seen in 2018 and 102,861 in 2017.

Coleman said Parrot Island had more than 20 days being closed because of rain, costing it about $200,000. One thing negatively impacting attendance was flooding in late May and June, with the park also having more than $55,000 in damages from a tornado in May.

However, Coleman said Parrot Island pulled in an average of 1,164 people each day it was open. It was the highest average daily admission the park has had since it opened in 2015. The park took in a net operating income of $77,528 through the end of the 2019 season based on revenue of $1,350,901 and expenses totalling $1,273,374. While lower than the net operating income through

the end of the 2017 season, $129,716, it’s higher than the 2018 season, $51,369.

The proposed budget for Parrot Island for 2020, Coleman said, consists of $1,792,978 in projected revenue and $1,593,808 in projected expenses, resulting in a projected net operating income of $199,170. That includes a proposed $3 daily admission ticket price increase, which is largely due to continued minimum wage increases. The minimum wage has gone up by 37 percent since the park opened.

Continuing an expansion of the water park was also discussed. Coleman said a surf attraction called the FlowRider, the first phase of the

expansion, was installed and opened in the park in June. The second phase includes a proposed addition of a new tube slide in 2020.

A recap of the water park expansion project included in the meeting packet states the projected cost for the proposed tube slide is $441,000. This would require an additional $243,000 from Fort Smith and Sebastian County, with both contributing equal shares of $121,500.