The History of Seven Seas Marine Life Park and Hawaii Kai

The Seven Seas Marine Life Park, later reopened as Hawaii Kai, was a marine animal theme park located near Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. The park was in operation as Seven Seas from 1972 to 1975 and as Hawaii Kai in 1976 and was owned by the city of Arlington.

Due to the rapid growth of Arlington and the success of Six Flags, Mayor Tom Vandergriff began to discuss building a marine life amusement park in the city in the late 1960s. Unable to interest SeaWorld in building a park in Arlington, Vandergriff made a deal with Angus Wynne, Jr., of the Great Southwest Corporation, the company that operated Six Flags. The city would finance the building of the park while Six Flags would design, construct, and operate it and pay the city an annual rent of $700,000. Six Flags conducted a financial study that showed the viability of the proposed park. In 1970 the city held a $10 million bond election to finance the thirty-five-acre park and an expansion of Turnpike Stadium, the future home of the Texas Rangers. A total of $7.5 million was to go to the construction of the sea life park. On May 12, 1970, voters approved the bond issue by a three-to-one margin (3,136 to 1,018).

On July 8, 1970, senior Arlington city council member S. J. Stovall presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the park. Despite a proposed opening date of the summer of 1971, the construction of the park was beset by numerous challenges. In January 1971 the Great Southwest Corporation pulled out of the project due to the bankruptcy of its parent company, the Penn Central Transportation Company, and the city took over building the park. Construction was further delayed by labor disputes, and the park was unable to open on schedule. Nevertheless, the city had to pay to maintain the animals already bought for the park. In May the Texas state legislature passed a bill allowing the municipal government to issue certificates of indebtedness to obtain funds needed to maintain the park. On November 9, 1971, the Arlington City Council created the Arlington Park Corporation (APC), a non-profit company, to manage the construction of Seven Seas and to oversee the operations of the park and Turnpike Stadium (soon renamed Arlington Stadium). Prior to opening, Seven Seas had cost the city of Arlington $10 million and had become a major source of criticism of Mayor Vandergriff’s administration.

After many delays, on March 18, 1972, Vandergriff cut the “ribbon” (actually fishnet) to open the park to the public. More than 15,000 visitors visited the facility on its opening weekend. Mike Jenkins was the lead designer for the park, which was divided into seven distinct sections based on the Mediterranean Sea, which featured trained bottle-nosed dolphins; the Sea of Cortez, showcasing roller-skating penguins and baseball-playing seals; the South Seas, which showcased human performers; the Indian Ocean, which featured a killer whale named Newtka; the Sea of Japan, which had a koi fish pond and live show; the Caribbean Sea, which hosted high-diving performances and a video arcade housed in a pirate ship called the Bona Venture; and the Artic Ocean, featuring the only ride attraction in the park. Seven Seas also featured a grotto-style restaurant and bar named the Sea Cave, a lighthouse, and an exotic bird exhibit. A planned submarine elevator that would have allowed guests to view ocean life at various depths was cut due to safety concerns. Despite a high attendance of 475,000 guests in the opening season, the park lost $500,000 in its first year of operation.

In 1973 the city of Arlington purchased APC and assumed the corporation’s $7.6 million debt. This short-term debt was converted to long-term revenue bonds that would allow the city to have lower annual payments over a longer period of time. The Arlington municipal government created an entertainment department to manage Seven Seas and Arlington Stadium. During the 1973 season, total attendance declined from the opening season to the second season, although average daily attendance increased. The park blamed the drop on rain and “unseasonably bad weather” that forced several closures and the cancellations of numerous performances throughout the park. The losses for the park’s 1973 season amounted to $462,000. In 1974 the city of Arlington negotiated a deal with Six Flags wherein the company would manage the park for $350,000 (or 35 percent of the park’s net revenue, if greater) per year for four years. Even with Six Flags running the park, total attendance dropped to 375,000 guests, and the park registered a $516,000 loss in its third season. In fall 1974 the city council voted to close the park. That winter, following immense public pressure, including a lawsuit by the Citizens for Fair Taxation, the city of Arlington released a financial report on the operation of Seven Seas. The report estimated a net operating loss for the park of more than $1 million during its first three years. Critics of the park later sued the city and argued that the city had violated its charter numerous times in the financing and operation of the park.

In early 1975 George Millay, founder of SeaWorld, offered to revitalize Seven Seas. His terms included the sale of the park’s animals to him for only $125,000 (Millay later achieved the cost of this purchase with the sale of Newtka alone). On March 4 the city jointly leased the park to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)’s Scenic and Wildlife Attractions division and Millay’s newly-created Leisure Marine Corporation. This new joint venture focused more on human-led performances instead of relying on expensive animal shows. Paid attendance dropped to 335,792 for the 1975 season. Millay sold the animals and planned to rework the park as a customer-participation water ride park with much lower operating costs. He called the attraction Wet ‘n’ Wild. However ABC pulled out of the venture due to financial difficulties. Seven Seas closed for the final time on September 1, 1975.

The city of Arlington awarded a five-year contract to J&L Enterprises of Biloxi, Mississippi, to take control of the former marine life park. The president of the company, Don Jacobs, renamed the park Hawaii Kai and sought to create a Hawaiian-Polynesian-themed park. Changes to the existing facilities were largely cosmetic. On June 3, 1976, the park opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Mayor Vandergriff, Jacobs, and Arlington Chamber of Commerce president Robert Finely. The park featured sixteen continuous shows and attractions headlined by thirty Hawaiian students, who performed Hawaiian dances, songs, and music for the guests. Attendance in the park was extremely low. With this massive financial disappointment, J&L Enterprises filed for bankruptcy, and the park ended their shows on September 6, 1976. Because of the failures of Seven Seas and Hawaii Kai, Vandergriff urged the city not to try to create another amusement park on the site. He argued that the failure of the parks was in large part due to competition from nearby Six Flags. In 1977 the Arlington city council settled all claims with J&L Enterprises. The deal saw the city pay $5,600 and forgive $91,000 in claims against the company in exchange for J&L Enterprises cancelling any lease claims on the park. The former park was occasionally used to host events, such as the North Texas Regional Arts and Crafts Fair in 1977 and Festival ’78, hosted by the Arlington Service League and the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau the following year.

In 1977, to determine the future of the park, the city of Arlington hired the Landmark Development Corporation, a consulting firm, to recommend what to do with the former marine park. The company recommended converting the area into a hotel and office building complex. In 1982 the city reached a deal with CentrePoint Joint Venture to build such a complex on the former park if the city also built a convention center on the site. The city would get a share of the hotel’s gross revenue to pay for the remaining debt of the park. In April 1982 Arlington voters narrowly approved the bond measure for the new convention center. Construction began on the Sheraton CentrePark Hotel in November 1983 and the Arlington Convention Center (currently the Esports Stadium Arlington) in March 1984. The hotel’s pool area incorporated remnants of the park.