The writing on the wall bids visitors to excuse some unfinished construction, but when evening falls tonight, a new family amusement park will open its iron gates for business in Bayville.
Bayville Adventure Park will pack a punch in its relatively small 5-acre frame. The pirate-themed amusement park will feature a high-wire rope course, low-speed bumper boats, a 19-hole miniature golf course and super slides.
"We will be hammering the last nail the second before we open," said Glen Falcone, vice president of Jekyll & Hyde Entertainment, in anticipation of today's 6 p.m. ribbon cutting.
Until 2002, the property at 8 Bayville Ave., across the street from the Long Island Sound, was home to Bayville Amusements, a 50-year-old theme park, which, Falcone said, had become "rundown and dilapidated." Last year, Jekyll & Hyde Entertainment, which also owns the adjacent Shipwreck Tavern restaurant and clubs in Manhattan, cleared the space to make way for the Bayville Scream Park and a live-action haunted house in time for Halloween. The seasonal site was open for several weeks.
The expanded adventure park, in the works since 2004, will put Bayville on the map, Falcone said. "It's like having Disney on Long Island," he said.
A walk-through on Tuesday showed numerous touches inspired by the entertainment giant.
Old-fashioned lampposts and a clock bearing the legend "Carnival of Wonders" dotted a Main Street-esque walkway of red and black brick. In one corner, a replica schooner sat anchored in a Caribbean-blue pool, while animatronic figures outfitted to look and act like pirates awaited activation throughout the park. An arcade is planned for later.
Disney's story-telling influence is apparent also in the fictional account of Bayville's history offered up by the park. The narrative follows generations of the swashbuckling and entrepreneurial Bay family, for which the attractions are named, as in the Lost Treasure of Captain Blackheart Bay Adventure Golf.
"We're trying to capture all that same kind of family fun and adventure that Disney has perfected," said D.R. Finley, president of Jekyll & Hyde Entertainment.
It all comes at a price, however. Finley, when asked, would say only that the "multimillion dollar" cost of the Bayville park is "still a moving target."
The park has hired more than 100 employees, many of them teenagers from Bayville and surrounding communities, said Falcone.
"It's giving kids in this town jobs, which is good for them," said Nancy Pattacca, who was kneading dough behind the counter at Ralph's Pizza a few doors down from the amusement park.
Bayville Adventure Park, 8 Bayville Ave., Bayville; 516-624-RIDE or bayvilleadventurepark.com. Open daily 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Tickets to attractions are sold separately, and cost from $6.75 to $9.75.
