Rymill Park Arnie’s Kiosk lease ending, owner fears takeover of his prime parkland business

THE operators of a much-loved, 20-year-old Adelaide parkland institution fear that the vultures are circling for their business.

Owner of Arnie’s Kiosk in Rymill Park, Paul Harding, is scared that an expression of interest process will lead to his business losing out. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

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THE operators of a much-loved, 20-year-old Adelaide parkland institution fear that the vultures are circling for their business.

Arnie’s Kiosk, formerly the Rymill Park Kiosk, was first established by the late Arnie Rossis in 1998 and is now managed by Mr Rossis’ son-in-law Paul Harding.

The lakeside kiosk has become a popular weekend gathering place for city residents and parklands visitors in the prime location.

But with its lease up for renewal, as is now the case with all leases from the Adelaide City Council when it comes to parklands, an Expression of Interest process for a tenant for the lakeside building has been established.

Existing businesses are encouraged to apply for a council lease via an expression of interest (EOI) process.

But agent for the venue – Tim Pozza of McGees Property – has said it was hoped a “new direction” could be established as a result of the offering.

“We are hoping that the long term service we have provided will be taken into account,” Mr Harding said. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Mr Harding told the Advertiser this had him concerned for the future of Arnie’s – named following his father-in-law’s death.

“We are hoping that the long term service we have provided will be taken into account,” he said. “But we are scared.”

The business has endured terrible luck over the past couple of years.

After suffering a drop-off in trade of 75 per cent due to construction work on the O-Bahn project, Mr Harding was ordered by the State Government last year to pay 28 per cent of any takings during the Clipsal 500 to the official event caterer because of the location of the kiosk.

An algal outbreak in the Rymill Park lake, forcing its closure, earlier this year also compounded the problems at the venue.

But Mr Harding said he wanted to remain in his current location, which has been described as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to establish a destination cafe operation.

“We want to stay,” he said.

“We don’t want to go anywhere.”

But the EOI is expected to attract significant competition for the prime parkland location. A search of the name Rymill Park on the ASIC database by the Advertiser revealed a number of business names such as “Rymill Park Cafe”, “Rymill Park Restaurant”, “Rymill Park Bar”, “Rymill Restaurant”, “Rymill Cafe” and “Rymill Bar” were registered last month, nearly a month before the EOI process began.

The names were registered by Kali Hunter Enterprises Pty Ltd, which runs events at the nearby Rymill House. They were contacted for comment last night. The EOI process finishes on April 26.