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Show Rain drowns economy C I I ' 1 ' '-. r I I I - ft - I I j ? ' ... I I y ff I I r " , : I . -f . I ! i V I 1 r 1 l v 1 J T j r t p 1 ,-' I 1 I FARMINGTON No one is singing "Sunny Day, chasing the clouds away" louder than the owners and executives of Lagoon Corporation, the operators of Utah's largest amusement park. Up until a week ago the only positive thing Dick Andrew, marketing director for Lagoon, could say was that the lawns were certainly green. The problem with green lawns was that the rain that generated the greenery forced the park to close many days and to remain open as a public relations gesture when the crowds were small and the clouds were weeping. 'Until the Monday of the Memorial Day weekend we only had two weather-compatible sunny and warm days, Andrew said. "The rest were horrendous to impossible.'. im-possible.'. More seriously hurt than the amusement park itself was the Lagoon -a-Beach water park that only opened two days between May 10 and June 1. This creates a serious dent in the profits for a major industry and employer that can only hope for a 120-day season each year. "We build a few stormy days into our yearly budget," Andrew noted. "These were quickly used up this year. No one has ever seen a spring like this one has been." Lagoon did extend its fall season in 1990 because of unusually warm weather. "This didn't make up for the spring loss' Andrew claimed. "The amusement park industry is like the ski industry. The best skiing this season was in the spring after the resorts closed. Once Labor Day hits and school starts, Lagoon is a hard sell. People think about doing other things. It also takes a few warm, sunny days to get people into a summer mood so our business won't grow with the first good day of the season.' Andrew indicated that the school groups that attend Lagoon during the week days between the traditional tradi-tional April 20th opening and Memorial Day did help the resort generate some spring revenue. Just north of Lagoon is another major summer recreation resort, Cherry Hills. Unlike Lagoon, the Rainy weather has kept tee boxes and greens empty this spring in Davis County. Even though revenues are down, most courses are financially solvent. Course managers agree however, "Conditions are better than they have ever been." (Clipper photo by Jack Foriska) r income at Cherry Hills is about equally divided between camping and recreation. A spokesperson for this industry said that the loss in recreation revenue was made up by an increase in camping income. The Memorial Day weekend was a good recreation day for this resort that is celebrating its silver anniversary. |