All Over Albany

Biz Review: Hoffman's Playland is closing

The Biz Review's Mike DeMasi reports the owners of Hoffman's Playland have decided to close for good this September. A clip:

The Hoffmans talked to many prospective buyers, including the owners of Guptill's Arena four miles away in Colonie, another longstanding, family-owned business that operates a large roller skating rink and ice cream stand surrounded by vacant land.

In the end, however, the various suitors backed off the idea or didn't have a plan the Hoffmans considered viable.

Hoffman's Playland has been in operation for more than six decades. When word spread last summer that the owners were thinking about how to retire there was a huge swell of support for the tiny amusement park in Latham.

Last year Tim Dawkins wrote here at AOA about what Hoffman's Playland had meant for him as a kid, and the experience of working there as a teenager:

At 16 I ran the kiddie rides at the playland; the boats, the trucks, or the caterpillar -- always under the watchful eye of Dave Hoffman and his ever-present German shepherd sidekick Joel, one of the nicest, most obedient dogs you could ever meet. Eventually I graduated to the Ferris wheel and the scrambler.

But my favorite job, hands down, was driving the train. Then I'd hit the big time. I was a huge hit with the 3 and 4-year-old set. Kids would point me out in public -- "Hey! You drive the train at Hoffman's!" ...

The playland still has a few more months. It's open everyday starting at noon -- and as they tweeted Monday night: "Call ahead if the sky is looking stormy!"

photo: Tim Dawkins