Loop 030 printable

Volume 2, No. 7. April 12, 2002

Hospital care
In our interview with Alain Baldacci in December (THE LOOP, December 14, 2001 ), the president of Interplay Parks in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said that during his term as IAAPA Chairman of the Board he hoped to put the industry on a path toward providing aid to the world's impoverished children. An example of a theme park expressly fulfilling that role works in Baldacci's own hemisphere.

Parque de Diversiones in San Jose, Costa Rica, was founded in 1981 to earn money for the city's National Childrens Hospital. In 2001 on a gate of 800,000 visitors, the park raised 351 Million Colones (US$1 million) for the hospital. Additionally, while admission to the grounds is free, the park waived the 2,800 Colon (US$8) ride ticket to countless groups of poor school children.

"This is our mission, to work in a social way, helping the hospital and helping the society not only by giving help for the sick kids but also for the healthy kids who are not able to afford entertainment at the park," said Mario Catarinella, Parque de Diversiones' general manager.

Not that the not-for-profit status of the park allows it to skimp on its offerings. Fifty eight of the property's 110 acres are built out and divided into two major areas. One is a mechanical park with 42 amusement rides, including two steel roller coasters, bumper cars, waters slides, electric train, antique cars, carousel, several flat rides and an arcade with video and redemption games plus a simulator. The other side of the park is a themed area called Old Town, which comprises three sections representing Costa Rican history. One section replicates a turn of-the-20th century town with restaurants and group meeting venues. Another section displays the country's rural elements, with sugar cane fields and a coffeehouse serving fresh-picked coffee, a petting zoo and authentic old houses brought in from other parts of the country. The third section represents the Atlantic coast where Christopher Columbus first set foot and gave the country it's name, "Rich Coast." The park also has its own walk-about characters: Uncle Pig, Uncle Rabbit, Uncle Tiger, Uncle Coyote, Uncle Alligator and Aunt Hen.

Last year Parques de Diversiones received ISO 9000 certification. "We're very proud of that," Catarinella said. He also has the advantage of employing a staff—ranging from 400 to 600 employees depending on the season—with a sense of mission. "Our park is the only amusement park in the world that works for a hospital. Employees here have that in their mind and in their heart, and they work happily to reach the target. If you want to work for this park, you have to be a very special person, very idealistic, very philanthropic."

But he admits that attaining and keeping such high standards is difficult in a poor country of just 4 million people, even if it is for a good cause. "It is also a very rough business in Costa Rica. If the ride costs $1 million, for instance, you have to pay almost $2 million for taxes and transportation." For that reason he is seeking assistance from his international colleagues. "We
need help from other parks and other countries because it's very hard for us to make the money for the hospital," he said. Still, he agrees with Baldacci that the amusement industry is the perfect enterprise to provide succor and sustenance to the world's children in need. "I think this kind of business is very compatible with the mission of the hospital," Catarinella said. You can contact him at mcatarinella@parquediversiones.com.