West Coast Know-How, East Coast Nostalgia : An Orange County company has teamed up with a New York developer to revive Coney Island.

If I were a wizard with one last magic trick in my bag, I would bring back the old Coney Island. --Novelist Mario Puzo

Mario Puzo may get his wish.

Would-be wizards are at work at Coney Island, where straw-hatted swells and bloomered gals once rolled their way through a barrel to enter America’s fantasy land.

Using expertise they learned working for Disney, the partners of an Orange County firm, Management Resources, are recreating the days of egg cream and thrill rides.

The Tustin-based leisure-industry consultants have teamed up with New York developer Horace Bullard to rebuild Steeplechase Park--the best known of three Coney Island amusement parks--25 years after its turnstiles clicked for the last time.

In other words, West Coast know-how would bring alive East Coast nostalgia.

New York City just gave final approval to transform what is now 25 acres of vacant lots and Thunderbird bottles into a $250-million development scheduled to open in May, 1992.

Some amusement industry insiders are skeptical. But the project’s developers believe they can transform the burned-out area in Brooklyn into the tourist mecca it once was.

There was a time, after all, when America loved Coney Island. The hot dog made its American debut there in 1867. So did a roller coaster that chugged along at 6 m.p.h in 1884. A 5-cent trolley ride brought thrill-seekers from three states to bet on horse races, ogle Little Egypt in the sideshows and sink their teeth into a Nathan’s Famous hot dog.

In its heyday of 1911, Coney’s amusement area stretched for 20 oceanfront blocks with a noisy assortment of roller coasters, Ferris wheels and thrill rides in three amusement parks: Dreamland, Luna Park and Steeplechase.

But over time came housing projects, derelicts and drug dealers. Coney Island’s old-time amusement parks went the way of iceboxes and clam carts. In September, 1964, the last of the grand parks, Steeplechase, closed its gates.

Even so, some elements of Coney’s appeal are still there. “You couldn’t take away the beautiful beach and boardwalk,” said Bullard, an entrepreneur who began his career with a shoeshine kit. The beach alone attracted 1.5 million people last Fourth of July weekend. And five subway lines lead right to the trash-littered Steeplechase site.

So six years ago, Bullard began thinking about how to revive the park. He bought 10 acres along the boardwalk and beachfront next to Steeplechase. Then he worked out a 99-year-lease with the city for a good portion of the pier and the site of the old Steeplechase Park.

Bullard, founder of the East Coast’s 15-restaurant Kansas Fried Chicken chain, predicts that the combined 25.7-acre site will become a major tourist haven within the next 10 years. And many city officials believe he may be right.

“Nothing is as strong as an idea whose time has come,” said Anne Weisbrod, assistant vice president of the Public Development Corp., the city’s redevelopment arm. Weisbrod, along with many other bureaucrats, believes now is the time for Steeplechase.

The city has encouraged redevelopment of the declining area since the early 1970s. And there are signs of progress.

A multimillion-dollar rejuvenation has cleaned up much of the 2 1/2-mile ocean boardwalk, and there’s talk of putting a sports arena next to Steeplechase. Public and private housing is being built and the area has a newly rebuilt skating rink. A strip of shops, restaurants and fast-food stands is planned for the neighborhood near the park.

But until Bullard came along, plans to revive the amusement parks never gelled.

Management Resources got into the act when Security Pacific National Bank, the Steeplechase project’s financial adviser, recommended the firm to Bullard. The firm, including several Disney alumni, has worked on projects ranging from European theme parks to the Knoxville World’s Fair site.

Began Work

In August, Management Resources began orchestrating the development of Steeplechase. As management consultant, the firm oversees virtually everything: city approval, design, funding, construction, entertainment, marketing and operations.

To design the park, Bullard brought in Battaglia Associates of Irvine. Management Resources recommended the theme park design company, which was chosen in a design competition.

But how do you rebuild a memory?

“People went there for laughs, excitement and entertainment,” said Richard J. Battaglia, president of Battaglia Associates. “We tried to capture that feeling.”

Much of the new Steeplechase includes elements of Coney’s three old-time amusement parks. Brooklyn Dodge’ems bumper cars will zigzag madly across from a fun house with curved mirrors and tumbling barrels. On the steeplechase ride, patrons will relive one of the old-time thrills, clinging to mechanical horses as they race downhill.

The most famous attraction--and the only one from the original park--will be a restored, 250-foot Parachute Jump, a national landmark billed as the tallest, largest ride in the world when it opened as part of the 1939 World’s Fair.

State-of-Art Attractions

The designers are planning flashy, state-of-the-art attractions too. On the Human Pinball Machine, customers will become part of the action as they’re launched up a chute and then tumble past flippers, tripping buzzers and lights. Gotham City and Batman will come to life on a flashy roller-coaster ride with Batmobiles.

The new Steeplechase, located from West 15th to West 21st streets, will be less than one-third the size of Disneyland. Skip Palmer, a partner with Management Resources, projects annual revenue of $75 million from 42 rides, four theaters and dozens of shops and food stands. The park plans to operate 138 days each year.

In that time, its builders project that turnstiles should click 2.5 million times, with as many as 25,000 patrons packed in during peak hours. So Steeplechase will be built on several levels, with roller coasters whipping overhead and an elevated trolley.

Construction should take 24 months.

Before it can begin, however, Steeplechase will have to clear a big financial hurdle.

According to New York City officials, a London branch of Security Pacific National Bank is only waiting for lease documents before signing on as lead lender.

After that, the bank is expected to raise funds by leading a syndication, attracting other banks as well as equity partners, said Mike Spies, vice president with Public Development Corp.

Bullard already has two private investors--in addition to himself--lined up, city officials said. But he and others putting together the project declined to identify them or give other financial details. Security Pacific could not be reached for comment.

‘Ducks Lined Up’

“Obviously, this deal is a little riskier than an office building,” said Lee Silberstein, a city spokesman. But he said the city is confident that “Bullard has all his ducks lined up” to get financing.

As added insurance, the city will apply for up to $10 million in federal grant money to help redevelop the Steeplechase area.

Even so, some observers question whether Steeplechase will ever be more than nostalgia.

For one thing, finding equity investors can be tough, according to amusement industry experts. And Bullard has no track record in the theme park business. One insider who asked not to be named cited two amusement park projects in London and France that managed to get loan commitments, but not enough investors. “That’s usually where these projects fall apart,” he said.

Will Easterners flock to Steeplechase as often as Bullard hopes? That’s far from certain, according to Bill Dawson, president of Resort Parks International, a Long Beach leisure development firm. “The guy from Connecticut just doesn’t want to go through all the stuff he’s got to go through to get all the way out to Coney Island . . . (so) the repeat factor is every other year,” Dawson said.

Moreover, the area has not shaken its image as a dangerous and unsavory place, a haven for crack dealers and crime-ridden high-rises.

On the other hand, the New York market is “horribly under-served” when it comes to amusement parks, said Nick Winslow, president of Harrison Price Co. in Torrance, another leisure-industry consultant. “If you can do anything like that, Coney Island probably is the right place to do it.”

After all, Coney Island has always been a place of dreams.