Major developer states that they have no interest in Magic Mountain property.

I would be very sad to see the popular Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia being replaced by thousands of cracker-box homes. I remember going there as a youngster to experience the thrills of Revolution and Log Jammer, even though we didn’t live in the Santa Clarita Valley at that time. Now Revolution is practically a "kiddie ride" compared to the new technology, but it certainly was a thrill back then!

In recent conversations with the land manager for one of the area’s largest developers, it is clear that they have no interest in that property. There’s too much risk, including the possibility of toxic waste contamination after having the rides there for so many years. Not to mention the dismantling of the rides that Six Flags would choose to leave behind and all of the remaining infrastructure of the theme park that would have to be destroyed.

Adding to the challenges with the actual land are the uncertainties that the Los Angeles County Planning Commission would allow enough homes to be built on the property to justify the proposed purchase price of $250 to $300 million for the land.

Six Flags is clearly targeting Magic Mountain for sale because of its potential land value alone, since it’s one of their profitable theme parks and is considered a flagship park for their company. However, new management is looking for cash to support their sinking investments in other properties, so they’ve decided to put Magic Mountain on the auction block.

If Magic Mountain were to be sold, the residents of the Santa Clarita area would suffer from not only the traffic generated by another mega development of cracker box homes, but also from the loss of one of the area’s major employers.

Magic Mountain keeps the teenagers who work there busy during the summer, and have full-time staff year-round similar to what you’d see at any major corporation in addition to the staff that runs the actual theme park. They provide jobs in categories from managerial personnel and accountants to janitors, food service, ride operators, maintenance personnel, and many others who live in our local area. And they also support local businesses by purchasing products and by generating tourist revenue for adjacent restaurants, motels and retail stores.

I certainly hope that this effort to sell Magic Mountain is rejected by the developers as an over-priced high-risk investment that would best be left as it is: A regional destination theme park with some of the best roller coasters in the world!

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