Balboa Fun Zone Is Sold to Operators

The Balboa Fun Zone, which has been for sale since being placed in receivership in 1992, has been sold to the park’s operators--two men who first worked for the small amusement park before they were teen-agers.

“We started working here in 1951 as 12-year-olds, picking up paper and blowing up balloons,” said Joe Tunstall, who has operated the park for several years with Bob Speth. “Now, we own it.”

Tunstall and Speth, both 56, have been operating the park’s Ferris wheel, bumper cars and other attractions under a lease since 1985. The park went into receivership in March, 1992, after a Japanese buyer defaulted on a $10.1-million loan.

Tunstall declined to discuss the sales price, but the property had been offered for about $5 million. One real estate industry spokesman who is familiar with the property said the Fun Zone sold for “something near the $5-million asking price.”

The owners have no major changes planned at the small park that has been in operation for more than 50 years.

“We’ll have a new kiddie ride but nothing major,” Tunstall said. “We still want to cater to the parent and grandparent trade, the baby stroller crowd.”