Groups vie to run struggling Rye Playland

Several groups are competing to take over Rye Playland, the 83-year-old, historic amusement park just outside the city that loses $5 million a year, including $3.5 million to service a $32 million debt, according to the Wall Street Journal. The 289-acre site houses several buildings and rides designated as national landmarks, but attendance has fallen by 50 percent since 2005. Most of the groups interested in running Rye Playland are amusement park veterans, and they propose schemes that would build up the park slowly over time. But one unique group, led by resident Sandhya Subbaro, her husband Dhruv Narain of Goldman Sachs and Peter Rukseyer of UBS, envisions spending $35 million to add fields and restaurants to a slightly renovated amusement park to ensure year-round revenue. Another proposal, submitted by Air Structures American Technologies, seeks a $15-to-$20 million expenditure on a 6.5-acre domed athletic complex adjacent to the amusement area that they estimate would generate an additional $8.5 million in revenue for the park. [WSJ]