No Dispute About Interest in San Antonio Park

William Jovanovich’s greatest involvement with HBJ’s collection of parks may be the $140-million, 250-acre park that will open this spring near San Antonio.

Jovanovich “has had an attitude of ‘the other parks be damned,’ ” ever since the decision to build the Texas park during the early 1980s, according to Cinda Gregg, a former Sea World executive.

Two other former Sea World employees said that Jovanovich threatened to close the Ohio aquatic park if the company did not have enough whales to perform in its Shamu stadiums when the San Antonio park opens.

“He said he was going to open his park, even if it had to be at someone else’s expense,” one former employee said. “And Ohio was the weak sister at the time because it was only open for a few months of the year.”

Jovanovich on Dec. 8 denied that he ever considered closing the Ohio park, adding that Sea World has 12 whales, enough to satisfy its needs across the country.

About Jovanovich’s interest in the San Antonio park there is no dispute. Sea World of Texas spokesman Bob McCullough recently said that Jovanovich “played a key role in this park. We’re very proud of what is taking place.”

The feeling is shared by many residents of San Antonio. “This park is (Jovanovich’s) baby and thank God for it,” said Marty Wender, who sold the tract to HBJ. “Sea World is going to change the course and history of San Antonio.”

Jovanovich’s pride in the San Antonio park was apparent on Dec. 8 when he boasted that the complex “is probably the last great park to be built in the U.S., I mean by anyone. It’s an enormous undertaking.”

As part of that undertaking, Jovanovich helped select the park site, developed several of the park’s major attractions, and has continued to make frequent visits to the park during construction.

McCullough credited Jovanovich for the park’s novel “Texas Walk,” which features 17 life-size bronze statues of famous Texans. Jovanovich also developed the “garden of flags” that sits at a central point in the park, according to Wender. “He wanted (the garden) done his way. He saw it in his mind and wanted it created that way.”

That involvement typifies Jovanovich’s attention to the details of HBJ’s businesses, according to associates. HBJ is Jovanovich, according to Wender: “The company is an extension of him.”

Early on in the park planning process, Jovanovich flew over the proposed site to study its geography. He then walked parts of it before construction began, using his accumulated knowledge of the land’s contours to help designers situate the park’s major facilities.

Jovanovich took that kind of personal interest in the project because “the park is his idea, down to the smallest details,” according to Wender.

What Jovanovich has created in San Antonio is a park that HBJ believes will draw 3 million visitors during its first full year of operation. But amusement park industry observers believe the park will fall far short of that goal. “I’ve heard that the internal staff number (for attendance) is about 1.8 million,” according to one industry observer.

San Antonio, thanks largely to a booming convention business, draws about 10 million visitors a year, according to city officials. But most of those visitors come to town for conventions, and many are from inside Texas. San Antonio’s biggest tourist draws are the fabled Alamo and the nearby downtown River Walk district.

Orlando, Fla., has 53 tourist attractions, according to a Chamber of Commerce spokesman. In addition to Sea World, a world-famous zoo and miles of beaches, San Diego also draws tourists who stop over while on their way to and from attractions in Mexico and Los Angeles.