Local
Santa Clara's Great America to Close Permanently After 2027 Season
Six Flags announced Friday that California's Great America in Santa Clara will shut down on Labor Day 2027, ending more than 50 years of operation and leaving the South Bay without a major amusement park. The decision follows the 2022 sale of the park's land to Prologis for $310 million.
SANTA CLARA â California's Great America, a fixture of Bay Area entertainment for generations, will close for good after the 2027 season, its owner announced Friday. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation said the park's final day of operation will be Sept. 6, 2027 â Labor Day â capping years of uncertainty that began when the land beneath the roller coasters was sold to an industrial real estate developer.
The park will reopen in March for a "Farewell Season honoring more than 50 years of memories, traditions and iconic attractions," according to a company statement. "For more than five decades, this Santa Clara theme park has brought people together, created family traditions and served as the backdrop for unforgettable memories," park manager Dave Vosejpka said in the statement.
Built by Marriott and opened in 1976 as part of the nation's Bicentennial celebration, Great America has hosted "tens of millions of guests," Six Flags estimates. Its coasters and rides â including Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun), Gold Striker and Drop Tower (also known as Drop Zone) â have been staples for South Bay and Peninsula families.
The closure has been looming since 2022, when then-owner Cedar Fair sold the property to Prologis for $310 million, largely to pay down $2 billion in debt across its portfolio. The deal included an annual lease through 2028 with an optional five-year extension, which the park's operator opted not to pursue. Cedar Fair had purchased the land from the city in 2019 for $150 million, with company leaders at the time touting the deal as proof of a "long-term commitment" to the park. Cedar Fair and Six Flags merged in 2024.
Santa Clara Mayor-elect Karen Hardy, who lives close enough to the park that she once could hear its train whistle and bells from home, said the news hit hard. "I'm beyond frustrated," Hardy said Friday. "I'm a grandmother. I love to take my grandkids there and took my own kids there. And it is the only big park in the South Bay and Peninsula area, that's it. This is the big amusement park. So of course we're all frustrated."
Hardy said she has asked Prologis executives about preserving the recently remodeled water park and the historic carousel at the park's entrance, but the fate of those attractions remains unclear. "Because we don't own the land anymore, we don't have as much say, but we do have some say," she said. When the gates close for the last time, Hardy said, "I'll need a Kleenex box."
The announcement came a day after Six Flags reported a net loss of $366 million on net revenues of $1.17 billion in its third-quarter earnings call. Last year, activist investor group JANA Partners, along with NFL star Travis Kelce and two business executives, acquired a 9% stake in the company and announced plans to focus on "opportunities to enhance shareholder value."
The loss of Great America leaves a void for local families and workers. The park has long served as a summer employer for area teenagers and a driver of tourism for Santa Clara, and its closure will remove a rare affordable, large-scale recreation option in the region. The final season, the company said, will honor the park's legacy through in-park experiences and stories shared across its digital and social channels.