Buena Park eyes new butterfly and aquarium attraction to overtake empty plot

Buena Park is banking on butterflies to be the newest attraction along Beach Boulevard — again.

Two years ago, the city spent $9 million to buy back a 9-acre plot near Knott’s Berry Farm after the late Rubin Stahl’s plans to develop a Butterfly Palladium modeled after his past project in Scottsdale, Ariz. folded amid missed development deadlines and lawsuits.

On Tuesday, council members considered entering into exclusive negotiations with a new developer to bring a butterfly and aquarium attraction to the site, which formerly housed the Movieland Wax Museum before it closed.

Boardwalk Enterprises, which operates Butterfly Wonderland and Odysea Aquarium at the Arizona Boardwalk complex in Scottsdale, envisions building a “rain forest meets British tea garden” atrium in Buena Park where more than 5,000 butterflies would flutter around freely.

“What we’re planning to bring here, specifically, would be the largest butterfly conservatory in the country,” Adi Knishinsky, a chief marketing officer for the Arizona complex, told council members. “What we’d be doing is superseding ourselves because we’re already the largest butterfly conservatory in the country in Arizona.”

After reacquiring the plot, Buena Park originally entered into exclusive negotiations in September 2023 with a developer that sought to transform it into a surf park with a hotel, restaurants and retail. But both parties agreed to end further discussions after making insufficient progress.

Boardwalk Enterprises, which the city considered among the “top three” proposals it received last year, retooled its plans in continuing to show interest in the site. The company scrapped its outlines for a dinosaur exhibit and restaurant in favor of an aquarium, which found favor with city officials.

“We think about the user experience and the guest experience,” Knishinsky said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “We really think about what it means to visit us and what that means when you go home and the lifetime of memories we are trying to create for families.”

A walkway would carve through the middle of both attractions.

On the other side, the aquarium would feature marine life attractions that include sharks, penguins, sea turtles, otters and jellyfish.

“Large sharks are very iconic in nature, and they will draw guests from far away,” Greg Charbeneau, president of Odysea Aquarium, told council members.

A site plan was presented to Buena Park City Council on Tuesday showing where the atrium and aquarium would be.

(Courtesy of Buena Park )

The entire project is estimated to cost between $70 and $80 million, with a 2½-year timeline estimated between construction and opening day.

With Stahl’s past plans for a Butterfly Palladium, which included a jellyfish aquarium, plagued by financial challenges, Boardwalk Enterprises wanted to reassure council members that funding would not be an issue for their proposal.

“We’ve waited a very long time to find a second, perfect location for Butterfly Wonderland,” Knishinsky said. “We have saved up quite a bit of money in hopes that we would actually get this location.”

Knishinsky added that the butterfly attraction would be unique to Southern California and estimated that the entire project would create 200 jobs in Buena Park across eight businesses.

An exclusive negotiating agreement with the company would require a number of benchmarks within the first six months, including a preliminary site design and supporting documents showing its ability to finance the project.

After the nine-month negotiating period, the development would be subject to public hearings at future planning commission and city council meetings.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, council members had traveled to Scottsdale to see Boardwalk Enterprises’ attractions up close.

Entering negotiations to bring them to Buena Park found broad support on the dais.

“I think this is going to be a crown jewel for Southern California right here in Buena Park,” said Councilman Connor Traut. “You guys have the right team. You have the funding. This is going to create incredible memories for Buena Park and beyond.”

Mayor Susan Sonne echoed Traut’s sentiments and called the possible attraction an “extraordinary” addition to the city’s mile-long Entertainment Zone near Knott’s Berry Farm.

Council members passed the exclusive negotiating agreement unanimously — and enthusiastically — as the plot hasn’t been fully developed in years.