Edaville Family Theme Park is on the market
By News Release | April 15, 2022
Edaville Family Theme Park is on the market. Positioned in a prime location between Boston and Cape Cod, the theme Park is situated on a 262-acre-site is Carver, Massachusetts. Edaville Family Theme Park is a nationally recognized amusement destination and scenic railroad that consistently rates as one of the top amusement parks in Boston.
Jon Delli Priscoli, the sole owner of Edaville Family Theme Park for over 21 years, seeks to pass the reigns to a new caretaker to carry out the traditions of the beloved regional theme park. The park continues to be a popular multi-generational family entertainment destination with a promising transition to the next era of ownership and loyal family guests. Jon hopes to have new ownership later this summer and if not, he is planning to reopen it himself one last time.
For over 75 years, Edaville has celebrated renowned traditions since inception in 1947. Ellis D. Atwood founded Edaville when he built a five-mile rail bed around his cranberry plantation creating one of the world’s first tourist railroads rumored to inspire Walt Disney during his visit to the property in the early 1940’s. In 1992, Edaville closed and remained closed until 1999 when Delli Priscoli and two partners leased the park from the Atwood family and hired a management company to run the park. The facility was then purchased by sole owner Delli Priscoli in 2001.
The beloved annual Christmas Festival of Lights quickly became a tradition for generations of families and gave way to Delli Priscoli expanding Edaville Family Theme Park into a full-scale park with the addition of rides, indoor attractions, play areas, interactive shows, and Dino Land. Dino Land created a home for twenty-two animatronic life-size dinosaurs that sprawl over walking trails with an original sound experience that takes guests to a land before time! Over the past 21 years, Delli Priscoli has infused over twenty-five million dollars in the park to upgrade the existing park and expand with the addition of the popular Thomas the Tank Engine “Thomas land”.
“I think the historic nature of this park, and its current potential to grow into something even bigger makes it attractive to a potential investor,” Delli Priscoli said. “I really hope that someone comes forward with the vision and passion to continue this iconic property so that my family and grandchildren will be able to continue its traditions at Edaville”
Here are a few options that Delli Priscoli had been looking into:
To meet the demands of the loyal guests and to create an enhanced vision for the future of the park post pandemic, Delli Priscoli has worked on an expansion vision referred to as Edaville 2.0. The key vision of Edaville 2.0 showcases a year-round facility with the expansion of indoor and outdoor venues bringing together shopping, dining, and entertainment. Edaville 2.0 will encompass a fusion of decades – family tradition attractions and new, upscale products, an immersive state-of-the art venue museum, and village experiences set on over 250 beautiful acres situated between Cape Cod and Boston. For over 75 years, the keystone values Edaville has delivered to generations of families will continue to be the foundation of the unique Edaville 2.0 experience with the goal of continuing to bring generations of families together to create lasting memories.
In addition to transitioning Edaville to a new ownership, Delli Priscoli will work to reposition a portion of land holdings not integral to the park for a master-planned residential development to meet Carver’s requirement to follow MBTA’s community zoning initiative for a 50-acre parcel for multi-family housing or he will pursue a 40B project on the site. The need for rental housing for young professional workforce housing is essential and in demand in the greater southeastern Massachusetts. The land is largely zoned for residential use and has the only overlay entertainment amusement district in the state that allows the park to continue operating and expanding into the future.
Adjacent to Edaville, Delli Priscoli retains ownership of a mile and a half lake frontage (considered the largest privately owned in eastern Massachusetts) with significant acreage. The frontage extending into the lake includes a sandy beach with breathtaking sunsets on the 511 acres Atwood Reservoir. The lake is part of the Massachusetts Wildlife Management Area with limited public access allowing unrestricted boating, fishing (rumored to land the state’s record for the largest largemouth bass caught), hunting, trapping, wildlife observation, hiking, and other passive wildlife related recreation. The limited access coupled with the bordering cranberry bogs and Delli Priscoli’s land make the lake property a secluded sanctuary that cannot be duplicated in Massachusetts. Delli Priscoli is looking to transition this premier lake-front land just outside of Boston to new ownership who can take advantage of this exclusive one-of-a-kind outdoor sporting retreat for outdoor recreation harnessing the access to a private fishing and hunting area.
Inquiries to purchase the park can be made to Brenda Johnson at [email protected], all other inquiries should go to [email protected]