User:SchautMaster98/sandbox

Incorporate this into history
The clarity of the water of the Silver River made it useful for filming underwater scenes for James Bond movies, and episodes of the Six Million Dollar Man. There are over 20 movies and TV shows listed on IMDB as being filmed at Silver Springs.

The ownership of the theme park went through several private owners. During the 1980s, the distance of the theme park from interstates made it increasingly unprofitable. Faced with the possibility that the land would be developed as private real estate in the then booming Florida real estate market, the entire area around the Silver River was acquired by the state of Florida to become a state park. The state then leased the Silver Springs theme park back to a private manager, currently Palace Entertainment.

1800's
In the 1860's, Samuel O. Howse bought the land surrounding the headwaters of the Silver River, however it wasn't until several years after the American Civil War that it started becoming a well-known tourist attraction. In the late 1870's, Hullam Jones and Phillip Morell's inventions of the general Glass-bottom boat and the glass bottom rowboat, respectively, gave visitors a spectacular and unique view of the springs. Silver Springs gained national attention through journals and guidebooks, and became a mandatory stop on the "grand tour" of Florida. Former President Ulysses S. Grant visited the area in 1880. In the 1890's commercial glass-bottom boats were developed. H.L. Anderson purchased Silver Springs and the surrounding area from Howse in 1898.

1900-1920
C. Carmichael bought 80 acres of land from R.L.Anderson in 1906 for less than $3,000. Soon after he made the boats more comfortable by installing cushioned seats and canopies. The Seven Swans was filmed on location at Silver Springs in 1916, and is the first known use of the Springs for cinematography. President Calvin Coolidge visited the Springs in the 1920s.

1920's-1962
Ocalans W. Carl Ray and W. M. "Shorty" Davidson became partners and bought the land around the Springs in 1924, and like the previous owner, improved the boats shortly afterwords in 1925 by adding gasoline engines. In 1929, the famous herpetologist Ross Allen opened the "Ross Allen Reptile Institute" on the some of the land near the head of the Springs. It had a large influence on Silver Springs and attracted thousands of tourists for many decades after it was opened. Colonel Tooey, a concessionaire who operated the "Jungle Cruise" boat ride, established the first troop of wild rhesus monkeys in the 1930s on an island in the Silver River. He established the colony to attract visitors to his ride, except he did not realize the rhesus monkeys were excellent swimmers. They quickly escaped and formed feral troops along the river, some of which can still be seen. In 1932 the glass-bottom boats were equiped with electric motors.

Even though "The Seven Swans" was filmed at Silver Springs in 1916, it wasn't until 1932 that the location become known as a filming hot-spot. The movie that introduced this "trend" of filming movies at the Springs was Tarzan the Ape Man, featuring Johnny Weissmuller. In the rest of the 1930's and the early 1940's, 5 more of the original Tarzan movies were filmed at Silver Springs, and in 1945 Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed there. By 1950 the number of guests at Silver Springs was over 800,000 people per year. On June 17, 1955, a fire destroyed many buildings by the entrance of Silver Springs, including ticket offices, the gift shop, the cafe, and a storage building. The buildings were rebuilt later, including a new building across from the glass-bottom boat dock with many rooms for stores and restaurants, which is still there today. Years later in 1958, episodes of the television series Sea Hunt started to be filmed at Silver Springs. This continued until the series was stopped in 1961.

1962-1983
On May 1, 1962, rumors arose in the local newspaper about Ray and Davidson talking to the American Broadcasting Company about selling Silver Springs for $7.5 Million, but Ray's son W. C. (Buck) Ray Jr. (who was general manager at the park) denied those rumors. However, on May 29, it was officially announced that the sale of Silver Springs to ABC-Paramount was taking place. The final papers were signed on October 31, 1962, making ABC-Paramount the new owners of Silver Springs. The sale included the "lease of the Springs, all of the buildings and about 3,900 acres of land from the head of the Springs to the Ocklawaha River". Although, it did not include the private businesses in the park such as the "Ross Allen Reptile Institute" or "Tommy Bartlett's Deer Ranch".

ABC wanted to own all attractions in the area as part of the park, so they planned on buying major attractions including the "Ross Allen Reptile Institute", "Tommy Bartlett's Deer Ranch" and the "Prince of Peace Memorial". On June 29, 1963 the company gave Bartlett a 30 day notice to move his business or sell it to them. Media attention soon arose on the issue, because Bartlett stated that Ray and Davidson had extended his lease to January 29, 1967 before they sold Silver Springs to ABC. The parties had a pre-trial conference planned for April 15, 1965, but it wasn't needed as Bartlett and "Silver Springs Inc." (Owned by ABC) came to an agreement and had papers signed on April 9, 1965 that made the Deer Ranch and all of it's contents official ABC property. Allen eventually made a deal with Silver Springs Inc. and sold the Institute. The deal was that he could stay as the director of the Institute, which he did for years until his retirement. In October 1971, the natural Silver Springs were declared a National Natural Landmark. In 1973 Silver Springs started a wildlife rehabilitation program.

From 1974-1978 ABC expanded Silver Springs and the surrounding area tremendously. In 1974 they started to renovate a 5-acre island. "Cypress Island" opened in November 1974, and had a formal opening ceremony in March 1975. Non-activities included a the "Cypress Gift Shop" and an open-air beer pavilion. Activities and exhibits on the island included a new facility for the "Ross Allen Reptile Institute" which now had three large wooden amphitheaters for reptile shows, and some animal exhibits. The "Jungle Cruise" loading dock was also moved to the island. On April 28, 1978, 450 press representatives took a grand tour of Silver Springs' sister water park, Wild Waters, before it opened to the public on the 29th.

1984-1999
In 1984, ABC sold the land Silver Springs and Wild Waters occupied to Florida Leisure Attractions, and in 1989 Florida Leisure Acquisition Corporation bought the land from Florida Leisure Attractions. A 35-acre Jeep Safari opened in 1990. It takes people into the forest where they can see wild animals such as the rhesus monkeys, or artifacts such as the original tree house used by Tarzan in the 1930's Tarzan movies. In 1991 "Lost River Voyage" opened to the public. The boat dock was located where the show "Sea Hunt" was filmed, and took guests 1 mile down the Silver River to a small island where zookeepers showcased native animals, after which time the boat returned to the dock with it's passengers. In 1993 the first comprehensive study of Silver Springs' main spring took place, and consisted of geological, paleontological and biological studies of the spring, which is the largest artisan spring in the world. Later in 1993, Florida Leisure Acquisition Corporation sold the land that Silver Springs and Wild Waters resided on to the State of Florida, but continued to manage the parks under a long-term lease.

In 1994, "A Touch of Garlits" museum of antique cars and race cars opened. The White Alligator exhibit opened a year later in 1995. In 1996, Ogden Entertainment of Florida, Inc. acquired the lease for Silver Springs and Wild Waters. A multi-million dollar expansion project went underway in 1997, and finished in early 1999. It is the largest expansion in Silver Springs history, and it introduced "World of Bears", "Big Gator Lagoon", "Panther Prowl", "Kids Ahoy!" the Twin Oaks Mansion, and other things into the park. It also moved the Giraffe exhibit. In 1999, the famous "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin visited the park, and most of the staff members that were there in 1999 say that they truly enjoyed his visit.

2000-present
On January 14, 2000, Cypress Island was re-named Ross Allen Island in honor of the late herpetologist's involvement in the park from the 1930's until the 1970's. Also on January 14, the "Florida Natives" exhibit was opened to the public. Later in 2000, SmartParks, Inc. acquired the lease to Silver Springs and Wild Waters. In 2002, SmartParks failed to pay the lease to the Department of Environmental Protection in March, and sold Silver Springs/Wild Waters to Palace Entertainment in July. On March 8, 2004 the famed "Jungle Cruise" was closed and all of the animals in it were sold to the Micanopy Zoological Preserve. It was later changed into an attraction that showed guests about Florida history, known as the Fort King River Cruise (which opened in the summer of 2004). Also in 2004, "The Lighthouse" ride and the Fantastic Fountains water show were built. All three new attractions were opened on July 8, 2004.

The last two giraffes at Silver Springs, Kimba and Khama, died on November 7, 2011 and December 19, 2012. They were mates, and were both born at Silver Springs (in 1982 and 1987, respectively). "Frank the Tank", an Aldabra tortoise who had lived in the park for nearly 40 years died on April 19, 2012. He was the oldest animal in the park, being approximately over 100 years old.

In January 2013, it was announced that the State of Florida is going to take over the park on October 1. Palace Entertainment put $4 million into the park to get out of their lease with the state, which was supposed to last until 2029.

Newspaper Sourcing test
It isn't actually "closed", but it is empty since "Khama", the last Giraffe at Silver Springs, passed away on December 19, 2012.