Surf Coaster USA lot sold 8 years after closure

WEIRS BEACH — Rick Hassler bought the thriving Surf Coaster amusement park in 2001 for $1 million, and opened it the same year as Surf Coaster USA, investing another $1 million over time.

Essentially, the business was entertainment for Hassler’s three children and hundreds of young people who worked and played there.

“My kids loved it,” Hassler said. “I ran it for five years and never made money, but everybody loved it. It was a family thing.”

Now, Hassler still has the memories, and he’s also finally in the black. He recently sold the 11-acre parcel that housed the theme park at the corner of White Oaks Road and Endicott Street East for $3.3 million.

The buyer was Edgewater Development Group, and its three partners, Mike Dion, Peter Grenier and Anthony Dionne.

Keller Williams Realty brokered the sale.

“It feels good. It’s one less thing that I have to deal with in life,” Hassler said. “It was the right time.”

Dion said he and his partners have no plans for the property they purchased from Hassler at 1085 White Oaks, and have submitted no documents to the City of Laconia.

“It’s something we’ve been looking at for a while. It’s a great location. Beautiful views. We’re going to take our time and think about what is the right use for that property,” he said.

The development company now owns three separate parcels of land on White Oaks, all in different locations.

Water park highs & lows

When Surf Coaster USA reopened under Hassler’s management, it offered a half-million-gallon wave pool, a 0.5 miles water slides, and a kiddie pool. Each year, Hassler and his team trained 100 young employees and certified 40 lifeguards, and slidster races began, in which kids in two adjacent slides would race side by side. Winners received medals.

Four young people — all of them lifeguards at the park — set Guinness World Records for the longest number of feet they could slide in four hours, including Hassler’s daughter, and then his son. Danielle slid for 36,800 feet in 2002, when she was about 18, and RJ slid for 48,800 two years later, when he was about 16.

“It was like running up the Empire State Building four times [in a row], and then sliding down,” Hassler said.

Surf Coaster USA was audited by the state Department of Labor in 2007. The auditor fined Hassler $35,000 for violations including several dozen time clock punches a few minutes shy of the required 15-minute breaks for staff.

“The park was huge, and the time clock was in the middle,” he explained. “Kids had to walk to the clock, punch out, and then they’d go to the bathroom, get something to eat, and punch back in and walk back.”

Seventeen of the 13-minute clock punches were Hassler’s son’s breaks; the teen thought he was doing a good thing, getting back to his post quickly. Other employees did as well, Hassler said.

The representative offered to cut the $35,000 fine in half, but warned any similar violations the following summer would incur a double charge. “We closed the next day,” Hassler said. “She cost 100 kids their jobs.”

A request for comment from the state Department of Labor was not returned.

Hassler removed the slides after the business closed. It was sad, he said, to watch the property become overgrown.

“I was going to develop the land. The cost got out of control,” he said.

Development on White Oaks Road

At 60 White Oaks, a 29-unit development with views of Paugus Bay through the trees is under construction. Several of the townhouses in White Oaks Preserve have been purchased.

Another proposed development at 238 White Oaks came under fire by area residents, and Dion said his group is reevaluating the use of that land.

“We all live in the Lakes Region. All three of us live only a few miles from these properties,” Dion said. “We’re locals. We want to make sure whatever we do is nice for the area.”