San José Loses Its Only Major Water Park — for Now

“For more than 40 years, Lake Cunningham’s water park has been where San José families go to beat the heat,” Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement on Thursday. “Despite a temporary closure, our commitment is to keep this park active now and build an aquatic destination worthy of the next generation.”

Ed Bautista, a spokesperson for the city’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department, emphasized that only the water park itself is closing — not the surrounding regional park, which includes the Action Sports Park and a 50-acre lake.

“The vision is going to be creating something new,” Bautista told KQED. “It’s going to be a new modern aquatic destination with a state-of-the-art water park, expanded aquatic amenities, and really innovative interactive play experiences that will better serve the residents and visitors for generations to come.”

A revolving door of operators

CaliBunga’s closure marks the latest turn for a park that has changed hands repeatedly in recent years. Raging Waters operated under Palace Entertainment from 1985 until September 2023, when the company walked away early from its lease with the city.

Subsequently taken over by California Dreamin’ Entertainment Inc., a Sacramento-based investment group, it was reopened as CaliBunga in July 2024 under a contract set to run through September 2025. The company told KQED at the time that it had invested roughly $6.5 million into repairs and upgrades, with its CEO comparing the aging infrastructure to the movie The Money Pit — because every time they turned something on, something else broke.

The city has maintained that the CaliBunga arrangement is temporary, voting in late February 2024 to award the contract through September 2025, with the option to extend another six months.

Before CaliBunga’s contract was set to expire, the city planned to accept bids from California Dreamin’ and other contractors for a long-term operator. Bautista said the city ultimately selected Lakeside Partners through an open, competitive request-for-proposal process.

“A request for a proposal was submitted, and in an open competitive process, the partners, Lakeside Partners, were awarded the bid based on their vision and their plans,” Bautista said. He declined to comment on other bidders.

Lakeside Partners is connected to a current development proposal in East San José: the redevelopment of the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course, a 113-acre site adjacent to Lake Cunningham. Its real estate investors have proposed building roughly 2,000 homes there, a project that housing advocates have called one of the most important in the city in a century, and one that remains under environmental review.

Details of Lakeside’s contract with the city —including its duration, rent structure and who will pay for the planned upgrades — have not yet been released. Bautista said the city is still working out those terms and will share them with the public once finalized.

What’s open this summer

Community organizations are planning a series of summer activities, including water play days, a live concert series, kids’ maker events, skate and BMX showcases, and outdoor movie nights.

Recreational swimming will also be available at three East Side high school pools — Overfelt, Mt. Pleasant and Silver Creek — through a partnership with the East Side Union High School District.

“The biggest thing is that the park is still open,” Bautista said. “There will still be activities happening at the park, additional swimming pool opportunities and nearby destinations.”