Casa Bonita Supporters Optimistic About Potential Sale To South Park Creators Trey Parker & Matt Stone
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - A report saying the creators of TV show "South Park" -- Trey Parker and Matt Stone -- want to buy an iconic Colorado establishment was a surprise to workers at Casa Bonita and its supporters who are trying to get the restaurant reopened.
"We've tried to contact them for many months. Over the last year, especially when we were looking for investors, they are the obvious choice, right? And so, we tried every possible thing we could to get a hold of them, but haven't heard back," said Andrew Novick, who has organized the group Save Casa Bonita.
On Wednesday afternoon, The Hollywood Reporter posted an article stating Parker and Stone were looking to buy Casa Bonita, which is featured in one of the most popular episodes of "South Park," which is set in Colorado. While the restaurant has filed for bankruptcy protection, it isn't publicly for sale.
"The number one goal is it doesn't go away," Novick said about the tandem, who are creators of immensely popular Broadway show "Book of Mormon," potentially buying the property. "I think we have a lot of parallel goals in a lot of ways. We all want to save this restaurant. This is a place we grew up going."
The Save Casa Bonita group has also been working to do whatever it can to get the restaurant fully operational. Right now, the arcade and gift shop are open with tours of the facility being conducted throughout the day.
"We've been closed for about a year, and we want to bring back that experience to people," said Dawn Mestas, the Entertainment Director at Casa Bonita.
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Divers have returned to the waters as the waterfall recently became operational after repairs. Mestas says the owner told staff the hope is to get the restaurant reopened in September.
"We've been really just trying to get back into the flow of things," she said.
"Casa Bonita is at their hearts and they just, they want it to succeed no matter what," said Novick, who has been to the restaurant more than 300 times. "We've worked really hard with the community and make sure we are doing what's right for our Denver icon. And hopefully that's local."
More About Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Trey Parker and Matt Stone both grew up in Colorado. The writing/producing/directing team met when they were attending the University of Colorado at Boulder. Comedy Central hired the pair in 1997 to create the popular animated series "South Park," a show that Steven Kroft of 60 Minutes said in September 2011 "changed the face of cable TV." Their pair's popular 1999 movie "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" followed. Then in 2011 their giant hit Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon" became a big winner at the Tony Awards. In the summer of 2012 the traveling version of the musical debuted in Denver. The pair at one point owned a multi-million dollar mansion in Steamboat Springs and have been spotted in the past in the attendance at Denver Nuggets games.