Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts has been awarded the contract to operate Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, NASA officials announced today. The new concession agreement, which begins May 1, 2010, has a 10-year base period with one five-year option and five one-year options. Delaware North came out on top in a competitive bid process that began in 2009.
“We’re elated and honored,” said Kevin Kelly, president of the parks and resorts division of Delaware North Companies, a $2.2 billion privately held hospitality, food service and retail provider. “Over the last several years, we have worked closely with NASA to tell the story of space exploration to millions of guests from around the world through new experiences. We look forward to building on our platform and continuing the journey with NASA to showcase space exploration’s past, present and future.”
Since 1995, Delaware North has operated Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex – the public component of the Kennedy Space Center launch facility – for NASA. During the past 15 years, the company has worked with NASA to implement extensive educational programs, including designing and building major new attractions such as the Apollo/Saturn V Center, a tribute to NASA’s lunar landing program; and the recent Shuttle Launch Experience, which simulates what astronauts experience while launching into space aboard a space shuttle.