LUBBOCK Texas — Governor Greg Abbott announced on Monday a list of businesses that would be able open during phase two of his plan to reopen Texas.
David Dean, owner of Joyland Amusement Park, said he was surprised amusement parks were not on the list to reopen. He and his family have owned and operated Joyland since 1973.
Dean said he had to let go of his employees after spring break until he was approved for a PPP loan. Although he was able to rehire his full-time employees, he said the funds from the loan will not last forever.
“Those are limited funds and they’re going to run out soon and when they run out we won’t be able to keep our full time people on, we wont be able to order supplies we won’t be in a position to reopen which is heart breaking.”
Dean said his business has already come up with protocol for each ride and concession stand to help keep his customers safe.
“We were hoping to open actually this Friday we had brought our part time people in to start retraining and talking about the procedures that we were going to follow,” he said.
Judy Blair said she has worked at Joyland for over 20 years and that she’s hoping the park will reopen soon.
“This virus has just devastated us,” she said. “We miss seeing all the smiling faces coming in the gate and all the kids running up and down playing. It’s a horrible thing.”
Dan Pope, mayor of Lubbock, said during a press conference on Wednesday that he and other council members are working to get Joyland reopened soon.
“Joyland is an important part of our community. They have been for several generations,” he said. “We are working closely with our two local members of the governor’s task force to try to get [them] reopened.”
