Paul Crate/News Chief

In announcing a dramatic shift in management for the Gardens on Wednesday, the attraction's new owners also acknowledged the end of the park's relationship with the man who owned it for three financially turbulent years.

Baker Leisure Group, an Orlando-based consulting and management company for themed attractions, will take over day-to-day operations of the park from previous owner Kent Buescher.

The change was effective Wednesday.

Rob Harper and Brian Philpot, the owners of Mulberry-based Land South Holdings Group LLC, purchased Cypress Gardens for $16.8 million in October, following a court-ordered federal bankruptcy auction in September.

The auction took place a year after Buescher's Adventure Parks Group LLC, which also owned Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Ga., filed for financial protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

With no experience in the amusement park industry, the two new owners kept Buescher as chief executive officer but also set out to learn about the industry, Philpot said. He said that he and Harper reached two conclusions. One, the park needed to have the best management team possible and, two, it needed local management.

Philpot said that Buescher, who bought Cypress Gardens in 2004 after its closing in May 2003, had only an interim role with the park after Land South took ownership of it.

"It didn't work out," Philpot said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference at the Gardens.

The decision to replace Buescher was made for a number of reasons, Philpot said. It took time for the new owners to learn about the industry and to figure things out, he said.

"Kent's a friend," Philpot said. "It was very hard to talk to Kent about the change."

Philpot said the decision was not personal, but he said that he wants the park to survive and that he and Harper wanted the best management team in place "from top to bottom."

Attempts to reach Buescher on Wednesday were not successful.

The park's owners were joined at the press conference by Steve Baker, a former Walt Disney Company executive who started Baker Leisure Group in 1988.

Baker Leisure Group has managed theme parks worldwide, including parks in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

Though they already knew about his company, Philpot and Harper said they met Baker in November during a meeting of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). The process of hiring Baker's group took place over the past six weeks.

"We are fortunate to have Baker Leisure Group at Cypress Gardens. They are one of the premier management companies in the world and based in Central Florida," Philpot and Harper said in a press release. "Cypress Gardens needs a strong community presence, an element the Baker group understands."

The owners want a more localized approach to management of the Cypress Gardens, and Baker Leisure Group agrees with that philosophy and will implement it, Philpot said.

The park needs to reconnect with local government and the local business community, Harper said.

Baker said his company has worked worldwide in many different capacities, including consulting, running parks and day-to-day park management.

One of the company's assignments was running the Coca-Cola Olympic City during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.

"We take this very seriously," Baker said. "It's what we're in business for."

Baker said he intends to take Cypress Gardens back to its glory days as a world-famous attraction.

Visual changes at the park will be subtle and include painting and cleaning.

"I think the park is in excellent shape," Baker said.

Other changes will involve show choices and the mix of entertainment.

For the next few months, Baker said, the management group will talk to all the park's employees and to people outside the park, Baker said.

Baker said his company is people oriented, adding that he wants to make the park a place where the employees look forward to coming to work.

"We hope everyone wants to work for us," Baker said.

He said he wants to give park guests the best experience possible, offer them more ways to enjoy themselves and market the Gardens as a family park again.

The managers and staff of Cypress Gardens learned about the management change Wednesday morning and the response was positive, Harper said.

Bob Gernert, the executive director of the Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce, has been among Cypress Gardens' biggest supporters.

"From our standpoint, we have to follow the lead of the new owners," Gernert said Wednesday afternoon. "It's their decision and their call. The company they chose certainly has great credentials and could produce some very exciting results."

As for Buescher, "We owe him a great debt of gratitude for saving the park," Gernert said. "He's survivor and will land on his feet again."

kelly.mitchell@newschief.com