A flood of Facebook comments followed the news posted this week by Raging Waters in San Jose that the water park had closed for 2023 and wasn’t reopening for 2024.
The city probably expected people to go to Raging Waters, at least for the two remaining years on its lease at Lake Cunningham Park. From all accounts, the announcement also was a surprise to city leaders including Councilmember Domingo Candelas, whose district includes the park. There’s a good case to be made the city should have been aware this was coming well in advance, especially because Raging Waters is the city’s tenant.
This is why Cedar Fair has sold the land beneath California’s Great America in Santa Clara and announced the amusement park’s closure sometime in the next decade. It’s why the A’s are turning their back on Oakland fans and skipping town to Las Vegas. It’s why Walgreens and Safeway closed stores in downtown San Jose and why Santana West’s office buildings now occupy the land where people lined up to see “Star Wars” at the Century domes in 1977.
But Raging Waters’ exit leaves a different heartache. It’s much more like the way United Artists ditched its downtown San Jose movie theater in January 2000. After operating the 8-screen cineplex for less than four years, management turned away moviegoers one Saturday night with tales of technical problems and then ripped out seats and loaded projectors and theater equipment into trucks overnight. City officials were caught speechless when they found out UA wasn’t coming back.