Committee to review Playland proposals

Eleven companies and organizations have proposed uses for Playland to Westchester County officials looking to reinvent the historic Sound Shore amusement park for the 21st century.

A newly appointed citizens committee will evaluate the proposals and is expected to report its findings to county officials by July.

County Executive Robert P. Astorino last year solicited requests for proposals for the county-owned amusement park in the city of Rye.

Astorino said the taxpayer-subsidized park loses about $4 million a year in operating and capital improvements costs. Operating revenue has declined with attendance, which dropped from 1 million persons in 2005 to 494,000 in 2010.

County officials said the proposals range from broad-based plans for the entire property to ones focused on the amusement park, boardwalk or ice casino. They include new attractions, enhancement of rides, indoor and outdoor ball fields and an educational and science component to the entire park.

Proposals were made by Boardwalk Arts, Rye; State Fair Group, Bellville, N.J.; TPC Rye, a division of Paidia Co., Baton Rouge, La.; Central Amusements International, Boonton, N.J.;

ASATI/Stonehill, a joint venture of Air Structures American Technologies, Rye Brook, and the Stonehill Group, Westport, Conn.; Standard Amusements, New York City; Valentine Creative Marketing, Rye; American Skating Entertainment Centers, Elmsford; Sustainable Playland, Rye, and Q Properties, Norwalk, Conn.

Astorino recently named 19 members to the citizens committee, which includes representatives from the city and town of Rye, the county Board of Legislators, business and real estate and environmentalists, park experts and park users. The committee is chaired by James Chisholm, county parks board chairman.

County officials said confidential and proprietary information will be removed from the proposals before the citizens committee receives them. The committee is expected to meet for the first time in early April.

Astorino hopes to move forward on a proposal or combination of proposals by the end of November. The county is not obligated to accept any of the proposals.

Implementing Playland”™s “reinvention” could take several years to complete, county officials said.

Playland will open for the season in May.

Education consultant expands in China

School Choice International, a worldwide educational consulting service in White Plains, has formed a partnership with China”™s first private, all-girls”™ boarding school in the province of Guangdong.

Founded by Elizabeth Perelstein, company president, School Choice specializes in student placement in private, public and international schools. It will work with Zhuhai Henglong Girls”™ School to provide seminars and curriculum development and to arrange exchange programs with prominent girls”™ boarding schools in the U.S.

“The workforce is becoming more competitive and we”™re looking forward to providing a well-rounded education that prepares these young women to succeed in a global economy,” Perelstein said in a partnership announcement.

“Working with School Choice International enables us to provide a global education to our students, which will help them to become even more successful later in life,” said Wang Jiaye, headmaster of Zhuhai Henglong School.

Perelstein noted the partnership will expand her company”™s work in China, where in October 2010 it launched its “Golden Pathways” program to assist Chinese families in school placement in the U.S. best suited to their child”™s educational needs.

School Choice has more than 100 consultants in 50 locations globally. It works with families, schools and employers, including Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies.