Plans for Santan Adventure Park, a proposed family entertainment center at Crossroads District Park that was to include a go-kart track and miniature golf, will not come to fruition.
Gilbert Town Council unanimously agreed at its Feb. 7 meeting to terminate the development, operating and maintenance lease agreement with SAP Holdings, the park’s developer. That agreement was entered into in March 2017.
Residents near the park from the Greenfield Lakes and Cottonwoods Crossing neighborhoods fought hard against the park, particularly after the go-kart track was added to the plans. However, Gilbert Planning Commission ultimately approved the park’s design plan and council denied an appeal based on the noise in June 2021.
The lease termination is due to recent economic conditions and the current high cost of construction, according to town documents.
“Unfortunately, recent economic conditions, primarily high construction costs, have made the project unviable for the foreseeable future,” SAP Holdings Principal Tod Thornton said in a statement released through the town.
The park was to be on four vacant acres at Crossroads Park between the two neighborhoods. Construction was scheduled to start this spring. Other planned amenities included a splash pad, concessions and rentable party space.
Council Member Chuck Bongiovanni pulled the termination from the consent agenda, where it would have passed without discussion together with a number of other items, but not because he opposed it.
“Staff was very detailed in protecting our best interests — except I didn't see a penalty for non-performance,” Bongiovanni said. “And I understand that sometimes those aren’t included in our agreements. We spent five years of staff time, council time, suffered some community relationship damage when we added go-karts to the project. At the end, we were left alone at the altar without a partner.”
Bongiovanni asked council to consider consistently adding surety bonds or insurance policies to compensate the town for non-performance and to give consequences to developers “who find themselves over their heads.”
The town will return the land to its vacant park land inventory and look for a usage that is the right fit for the community, according to town documents.
“We are hoping to find a use for the land that will be the right fit for the community and are looking forward to their input in the future,” Gilbert Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona said in the town’s release.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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