Bay Beach Amusement Park undergoes annual inspection, price increase
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – On a warm, sunny day with temperatures in the 60s, Green Bay’s 132-year-old Bay Beach Amusement Park had only a handful of people on the rides.
They were not kids; they were inspectors from Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services making their annual visit.
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“Bay Beach is probably the best example of a well-run operation that we inspect all year. That’s not to say that rides across the state aren’t safe, but Bay Beach does a really marvelous job,” Department of Safety and Professional Services secretary Dan Hereth said. “Top to bottom, we’re always impressed with the work that they do.”
Bay Beach has 22 rides, and 21 are being inspected this week before the park opens on Saturday, May 4. The slide that is not operational is getting a new staircase.
“We had to replace the stairs on our slide; those were kind of getting to the end of their life, so they’re currently working on those,” Bay Beach Amusement Park superintendent Jason Arnoldi said. “So that won’t be open this weekend, unfortunately, but we’re hoping for next weekend on that.”
Inspectors look for a myriad of signs when checking the equipment. If it fails the inspection, the operator gives the piece of equipment a timeline to be fixed, at which point an inspector returns to check it again.
“Anything that really could wiggle loose. These rides are operating all year round, and they get a lot of wear and tear over the season, so you have to keep things tight,” Hereth said. “We let them know what the issue is, and they give us an estimate on when they can have that issue fixed.”
Once it passes inspection, the attraction’s license plate will have an updated sticker with the current year.
“Those will be on every ride, and then annually, they’ll get a little sticker just like our vehicle license plates,” Hereth said. “Most of our ride owners throughout the state are very good about quickly addressing any mechanical deficiencies we identify during the inspection because, for them, it’s all about creating a safe experience.”
The week is a packed one for park staff, but they see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Things are going great. We’re just getting everything ready. This is kind of the last push because we reopen Saturday,” Arnoldi said. “It’s always great to get these rides back up and going, get them inspected, get them cleared, and then get people on them.”
Patrons will notice a change at the ticket booth: 10 of the rides will require an increase in tickets, meaning at least a 25-cent increase.
“Since the last time we had an increase, the amount we have to pay our ride operators has doubled,” Arnoldi said. “And the increase of the rides as we get newer rides, the Nebulaz and the Ferris wheel, a lot of them are computer driven, so that requires constant upgrades, and the cost of running those is a lot more.”
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich was on hand for some of the inspections and explained that the park funds itself rather than using taxpayer dollars. Because of that, a slight boost in revenue was needed.
“It’s sort of its own enterprise fund if you will, it’s a municipally owned park operated by park employees here in the city of Green Bay,” he said. “It’s been over 20 years since prices have increased, so it makes some sense that there would be an adjustment.”
Genrich knows that people travel from around the state to visit historical and exciting locations, and he is a frequent visitor himself, and he has a favorite ride.
“It’s huge; we see a million visitors plus, oftentimes, throughout the course of the season. So it’s not just a city attraction. It really is a regional and statewide draw for us,” he said. “I refer to it as the happiest place on Earth. The Nebulaz is a great experience. I had a chance to hop on that at the end of last year, but honestly, I think the ride right behind me, the Ferris wheel, is one of the best rides we have here.”
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For Arnoldi, his favorite part of the park is watching others enjoy it.
“It’s always stressful this week, but it’s always worth it once everyone’s out here having fun, riding the rides and having fun; you see the smiles again and families making memories, and that’s why we do it.”
