Park at West End profit comes with a caveat

The Park at West End has redefined the entrance into downtown Fort Smith with a large ferris wheel and other attractions. Now under city control, Parks Director Mike Alsup said recently that the park had turned a profit for the first time.

Interviews with Alsup and Phil White, who leases the park to the city for $1 per year, show the profit posted for the previous year would not be possible without White taking on many expenditures that would wipe away the park's profit and send the city's 3-year-old venture deep into the red.

"If we had to do (repairs and upkeep), we would not be breaking even," Alsup told The City Wire. "Phil (White) lets us rent (the park). He just wants somebody to operate the rides."

Some of the major expenses incurred by White in the last year include replacing a cable at the ferris wheel as well as replacing other parts.

White said last year was a costly year for the park, even if it was not so for the city.

"Last year, I probably spent closer to $20,000 on maintenance," he said. "In a good year, I'll spend a couple of thousand dollars."

In a document provided by Alsup, total revenue brought into the city of Fort Smith from the Park at West End was $23,245.33 while the city's portion of expenditures was $20,458.39, leading to a $2,786.94 profit for the city.

If the city had incurred the $20,000 maintenance expenditure last year, the park would have posted a loss of more than $17,000.

When asked about the operating margins of the Park at West End versus other parks maintained by the parks department, Alsup said the numbers were not available.

"We don't track the parks individually like that to have a number," Alsup said, explaining that he had a parks maintenance budget that covered most of the parks, along with other budgets for streets maintained by the parks department, the Oak Cemetery and a separate community budget.

The reason for tracking the city's profit at the Park at West End, Alsup said, was because city officials did not want to take on a project that would cost the city money.

"We do that because when the proposal was made to the city, there was sort of an expectation of (the park) breaking even and not costing tax dollars to operate it," he said.

White was frank when discussing the park, explaining that outsourcing operations of the ferris wheel and a carousel at the park was beneficial to the city even if it hurt his bottom line.

"The whole deal was to contribute to the development of downtown and to give us something nobody else has got, to give back to the community that's given to me," White said. "There's no hidden agenda."

White said from the day he built the park, he wanted to come up with an agreement similar to what he has with the city.

"From the day I built it, I didn't want to run it," he said. "It's a terrible business model, but that's not why we're there. It's something I wanted to do and it seemed to be a perfect fit for the city parks department."

Alsup agreed with White's sentiments, explaining that the park has been a perfect fit for the city.

Since taking over operations, the city has lowered the price of rides to $1 each, which has brought in additional visitors, even some from out of town, Alsup explained.

And that, he said, is part of the reason for making sure the park stays open and the city continues to benefit from White's generosity.

"A lot of the times when I'm down there, I'll meet people from out of town. They specifically stop by Fort Smith because that was there. I'll talk to people here for ball tournaments and it's giving the kids something to do when they aren't playing ball," Alsup said. "It acts as a tourism draw and something for the community. And that's why we try to keep the prices so low."

White said he was pleased with the results of partnering with the city.

"This is a good example of a public/private partnership. It's me and the city. We figured out a deal to provide something good and that's fine. We're all happy. Mike (Alsup) is happy, I'm happy with the city and family's are happy. That's what's important," he said. "Some things don't have to make a lot of sense so long as we can be happy."