Parque de la Costa

Parque de la Costa
Established April 10, 1997
Location Tigre, Buenos Aires
 Argentina
Visitors 1.7 million annually
Website www.parquedelacosta.com.ar

Parque de la Costa is an amusement park located in Tigre, a northern suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Development

The park, located on a 14 hectares (35 acres) lot along the Paraná River Delta (on the Luján River), was developed by Santiago Soldati, whose family holding company, SCP, had been bolstered by record earnings in its Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC) unit, an energy sector distributor, during the early and mid-1990s. Its development was preceded by the Tren de la Costa, a 16 km (9.9 mi) tourist light rail line inaugurated in 1995, and connecting Vicente López (just north of Buenos Aires) with the northern suburbs.[1]

Following an investment of nearly US$400 million, the Parque de la Costa was inaugurated on April 10, 1997. The park, connected to the light rail line at the latter's Delta station, originally included Tronador (a Pinfari Zyklon Loop rollercoaster), El Dragón water coaster, the La Vuelta al Mundo ferris wheel, El Octógono stage, an amphitheatre, a musical fountain, and other attractions.[2] The park's projections of 3 million visitors a year failed to materialize, however (traffic was about half that amount).[3]

A series of investments in the late 1990s, including the installation of two, larger rollercoaters (Boomerang and El Vigia), the addition of more live performances, and its reorganization into a theme park, as well as cost-cutting measures, reduced the unit's losses. Debts at SCP of over US$750 million continued to jeopardize its operations, however,[1] particularly following incidents in 1999, in which two rollercoaster passengers entered into a coma, or lost their lives, allegedly due to the ride's excessive speed.[4]

A two-thirds share in the park, which netted around US$30 million in annual sales, was transferred to SCP's creditors after the company entered into an bankruptcy proceedings in 2000; a major project, the Rapidos del Delta water ride, was cancelled as a result, though other rollercoasters, built by the Dutch firm Vekoma, were opened in subsequent years.[5] The park and Tren de la Costa (which remained in SCP ownership) helped revitalize the mainly upscale real estate market in the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires.[6]

Partial view of the Parque de la Costa

Overview

View of the park and the Luján River
Rollercoasters

The Parque de la Costa has more than 30 attractions, some of them are:

The park also maintains Puerto de Comidas (a food court), as well as a bar, Winners Pub, and two restaurants: Wunderbar and Come Prima;[7] the adjacent, 22,000 m2 (240,000 sq ft) Trilenium Casino is another SCP development.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 La Nación: El Parque de la Costa busca un nuevo rumbo (Spanish)
  2. ↑ La Nación: Espectáculos en la Costa para no perder el tren (Spanish)
  3. ↑ La Nación: Remozan el Parque de la Costa (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Clarín: Demandan al Parque de la Costa (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Fortuna: A Soldati le corren la línea de llegada (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Clarín: Cuánto cuesta comprar en Tigre (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Host News Traveller: Promociones imperdibles en Junio en Parque de la Costa (Spanish)
  8. ↑ Trilenium Casino (Spanish)

Coordinates: 34°25′5.5″S 58°34′34.5″W / 34.418194°S 58.576250°W / -34.418194; -58.576250

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