New owner to cut staff at water parks

The new owner of Schlitterbahn’s New Braunfels and Galveston water parks is cutting jobs at both sites.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which finalized its purchase of the attractions for $261 million in July, declined to say how many employees are affected.

“In order to streamline operations and drive efficiencies across the organization, management has made the difficult decision to eliminate positions at the corporate and park levels at Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort New Braunfels and Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston,” Cedar Fair said in a statement.

“While it is never easy to part with colleagues, Cedar Fair is committed to doing the right thing and is assisting impacted employees with their transitions in the weeks and months ahead, including providing outplacement services for those affected,” the company added.

Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair plans to spend about $20 million to update portions of both attractions over the next few years. Most of the money likely will be spent in New Braunfels since it’s the older and bigger of the parks, Brian Witherow, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in July.

The parks drew 1.2 million visitors last year and generated revenue of $68 million, according to Cedar Fair, and they are the company’s first acquisitions in Texas. Cedar Fair owns and operates more than a dozen amusement and water parks across the U.S., including CedarPoint in its hometown.

The Henry family, which owns Schlitterbahn Waterparks & Resorts, started looking for a buyer last year and announced the sale of the attractions in June.

Cedar Fair has an option to buy Schlitterbahn’s Kansas City property for $6 million and is vetting the site.

Schlitterbahn still operates its South Padre Island water park and resort. A bank that took ownership of its Corpus Christi-area property last year has since renovated the resort complex.