Amish Acres To Reopen “Soon”; Will Be Like The Original – But With A “Twist”

The new owner of historic Nappanee, Indiana attraction Amish Acres has explained more on the reopening process, and what visitors can expect, in a new article at Goshen News.

And as was suggested before, it sounds like fans of the original should be happy with what’s coming. And there is to be a “twist” – but it doesn’t sound like it will be anything drastic.

New owner Brad Juneau didn’t win the property at auction, being otherwise involved in a different project at the time. But he had a chance to purchase it when the original deal didn’t go through. Juneau fills out the details:

When the financing fell through for the person who won the sale at auction, Juneau said the Stutzmans reached out to him and asked if he was interested, and they were able to negotiate a deal.

Juneau also kept in touch with Dick Pletcher and his daughter, Jenni Wysong, and said he got the rights to Amish Acres LLC.

“I’ve been working with Dick on menus and logos, and I plan to bring it back 100% like it was in the mid ’90s — with a twist,” he said.

He said the “twist” is he plans to be open year ’round and not have the nearly three-month winter closure that Amish Acres had before. He said when the theater season ends, he plans to do concerts, hold Super Bowl parties, etc.

“There are a lot of things I plan to do a little differently, while bringing back that working farm atmosphere,” he said.

A number of the original more Amish-themed elements sound like they are returning and/or being re-emphasized:

He plans to have the historic farm tours again and have people on site making brooms and in the schoolroom explaining how education worked during that time period. He said the way Amish Acres was sold was with the agreement all of Amish Acres would continue to operate as it had before, so there is a land-use agreement in place.

He does plan to bring back the popular spring Arts Festival and also to add a couple of festivals, including a Fourth of July weekend festival with live music and comedy, have it open to any kind of vendors but have the food and beverage handled through Amish Acres, have amusement rides and fireworks.

He also plans to have some sort of fall festival, but one that lasts all month with pumpkin patches, corn mazes, etc. and he said he doesn’t want to interfere with Nappanee’s Apple Festival.

The goal to have it open by Thanksgiving doesn’t look like it will happen, due to permit delays, but it sounds like a December re-opening is likely.

The Thresher’s Dinner and the Round Barn Theatre will all be back as well, with the theatre’s program already being advertised. They are currently seeking former employees to return, including cooks and bakers.