Westchester County Approves New Plan To Save Rye Playland

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Westchester County legislators on Monday approved a plan to ensure the future of the Rye Playland amusement park through a public-private partnership.

The approval of county Executive Rob Astorino's plan means New York-based Standard Amusements will make a $30 million private investment in return for the right to operate the amusement park.

"We started with a blank piece of paper for how to save Playland six years ago," Astorino said in a news release. "Now we are taking a historic step forward. The capital, the operator and the vision are in place to protect both taxpayers and the Dragon Coaster for years to come."

Westchester County legislators approved the 15-year deal 13 to 4, the release said.

Standard Amusements plans to add new rides -- potentially a small waterpark for kids -- as well as restaurants and games and upgrade the park's physical plant while trying to maintain Playland's family-friendly feel.

"To have the opportunity to take a place that meant so much to me throughout my childhood and help restore it to a condition that ensures generations of children to come will be able to enjoy it as I did, is really a dream come true," Standard Amusements partner and Westchester County native Nicholas Singer said in the release.

Standard will turn to United Parks -- led by chief executive officer Jack Falfas, an amusement industry veteran -- to handle the park's day-to-day operations.

An earlier agreement to save the money-losing park was scrapped two years ago. The partner in that deal, Sustainable Playland Inc., had planned to make Playland a year-round attraction -- in part by adding athletic fields and a field house.

But that ran into opposition in the county Legislature and in some neighborhoods of Rye, where the park is located. Some lawsuits were filed, others were threatened, and the agreement never got past the planning stage.

The Art Deco landmark park was included in the Tom Hanks movie "Big," is the largest government-run amusement park in the country.

The Standard Amusements agreement includes an option to renew for an additional 15 years.