Herschend Family Entertainment Completes Silverwood Theme Park Acquisition Near Athol

Paul Norton called it "the only choice for us," and on March 27 the choice became official. Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation completed its acquisition of Silverwood Theme Park and Boulder Beach Water Park, ending more than three decades of Norton family stewardship of the 400-acre park near Athol and transferring it to the world's largest family-held themed attractions company.

For the roughly 1,600 Kootenai and Bonner County workers who fill Silverwood's seasonal roster each summer, the transition carries a direct and immediate reassurance: both companies have pledged full hiring continuity, and the park confirmed there will be no changes to 2026 season-pass pricing. The gates open May 2, on schedule, with Night of the Stars, Coaster Classic, Scarywood, and Boulder Beach's full summer program all proceeding exactly as planned.

That continuity matters acutely to workers like Vicky Richardson, who has spent more than 12 years on Silverwood's staff. When the deal was first announced in November 2025 as an exclusive term sheet, Richardson said she was "shocked" by the news. "All the (Norton) kids have jobs at Silverwood," she said at the time, reflecting an anxiety shared by many long-tenured employees whose professional lives had grown up alongside the family-owned park. The assurances from both sides since then have aimed squarely at that concern.

The acquisition closes a chapter that Gary Norton himself once tried to keep open: Herschend first approached the founding Norton roughly four years ago, and he declined. The eventual sale reflects both a generational succession reality and Herschend's aggressive North American expansion. The Atlanta-based company now holds 49 properties, including Dollywood Parks and Resorts and Silver Dollar City Parks and Resorts, and added 24 attractions in March 2025 through its absorption of Palace Entertainment's portfolio, which brought parks such as Kennywood in Pennsylvania and Lake Compounce in Connecticut into the fold.

Herschend is inheriting a park the Nortons left in strong competitive shape. The $15 million Emerald Forest expansion opened at Boulder Beach in 2024, growing the water park's footprint by about 30 percent and adding Eagle Hunt, the first dueling water coaster on the West Coast. Board chair Chris Herschend framed the Silverwood purchase as consistent with that investment posture and the company's broader operating philosophy: "As a family-held company, we're not driven by quarterly earnings or short-term trends; we have the responsibility and privilege of thinking generationally."

For businesses across Kootenai and Bonner counties whose revenue tracks closely with the park's hundreds of thousands of annual visitors, the ownership change answers a succession question that had grown louder as the Norton era matured. Local leaders and tourism partners publicly supported the deal as the option most likely to preserve stable employment and sustained capital investment in the region's most prominent attraction. Silverwood's philanthropic commitments, including past support for nonprofits like Canopy Village, are expected to continue under Herschend.

The park keeps its name, its event calendar, and its staff. What Silverwood gains is the financial and operational reach of a company that, as Paul Norton put it when the deal closed, "understand what it means to build something by hand." That credential, more than the undisclosed purchase price, appears to be what finally convinced a family that had once said no to selling.