Fantasy of Flight To Close To The Public On April 6th.
The iconic Polk County attraction “Fantasy of Flight” has announced that it will close its doors to the public after 18 years in business on April 6th.
In doing so, about half of the 65 staff will lose their jobs in a move that owner Kermit Weeks said came down to dollars and cents.
“Today’s a bittersweet day for us,” he said. “We’re halfway between Tampa and Orlando, we’re not a big destination yet, so everybody drives by. Everybody knows the name, everybody knows the place, but people have a misperception of what we offer.”
Fantasy of Flight started out as a pet project for Weeks, who owns the building and all the vintage planes inside. The building was originally only supposed to be a showroom for his planes, but it turned into a tourist attraction for thousands of people over the years. Weeks added that the business hasn’t made money a single year since it opened nearly two decades ago.
The museum houses over 100 rare and vintage aircraft owned by Weeks and many of them are still regularly flown by the owner himself.
Weeks said the planes won’t be going anywhere but the decision had been made because there was not a big enough market of aircraft enthusiasts to justify keeping the doors open to the public. Weeks plans to rent out the space for private events.
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