Huck Finn’s Playland marked its grand opening with a train ride and a vow to help the Albany community and its younger residents.
The park celebrated its grand opening Wednesday, July 1, with not only a vow to help the growing economy in Albany, but to also give jobs to the city’s youth. As well, Huck Finn’s donated the proceeds from its Hoffman’s Playland memorial brick sales to local charities benefiting youth programs.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region and the City of Albany Police Athletic League will both see proceeds from the brick sales, which have been laid just inside of the Playland’s fence. The bricks are carved with messages of Hoffman’s memories, memorials for loved ones and family names.
“Nine months ago, we stood in front of a group like this and promised that the Playland would be saved,” said Huck Finn’s Warehouse and More President and CEO Jeff Sperber Wednesday afternoon. “Today, we are here to say welcome to Huck Finn’s Playland.”
Sperber recalled first proposing the idea to help keep the Hoffman’s Playland rides in the area to his brother and business partner, Reid.
Sperber wasn’t sure how his brother would react to the idea, but when Reid agreed helping save the Playland was a good idea, “that was the day that I knew this was going to happen,” said Sperber.
The effort to buy the Hoffman’s rides, which held over 60 years of local memories, was a $2 million investment. Local organizations and businesses covered $650,000 of that cost in grants.
Once the project got underway, it took most of the winter for crews to transport the amusement park rides from the Latham-based Hoffman’s property to the land just beside Huck Finn’s Warehouse on Erie Boulevard in the City of Albany.
Those crews were still working to get Playland rides up and ready for businesses just a week before the soft opening Wednesday, June 17. Even so, the day was attended by hundreds of young kids and parents alike, ready to ride the Iron Horse Train and take a spin on the Ferris wheel once more.
The kids enjoying the rides were not the only familiar sight at Huck Finn’s. On top of the park rides, Hoffman’s was also known for giving thousands of local teenagers their first summer jobs in its 60 years of operation. Some of those teens, like David and Ruth Hoffman themselves, met future spouses at the park.
Huck Finn’s Playland is looking to keep that tradition going as Sperber announced the park would participate in the City of Albany’s Summer Youth Employment Program.
“I got my start working in an amusement park, standing out in the hot sun, selling little goodies, and you know, it was a great opportunity,” said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan. “This is a great opportunity for the young people in the City of Albany.”
Since Huck Finn’s Warehouse is a significantly closer location than Latham, Sheehan said more teens will be able to look to the park for summer jobs. More than 130 jobs will come from the Playland with more than 50 going to city teens each summer.
In lieu of a ribbon cutting ceremony, Sperber and Sheehan took a ride around the park in the iconic train that so many Capital District residents remember from their childhoods.
“It took a lot of good, hardworking, dedicated people to make this dream come true. … We basically started something that took 60 years to build and recreated it,” said Sperber. “Let me be the first to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”