WARWICK -- The former Rocky Point Amusement Park was sold today to the U.S. Small Business Administration for $8.5 million.

The agency has had the 123-acre property in receivership. Today's sale to the SBA, which had been anticipated, came at an auction of the site.

The auction drew 12 certified bidders. The next highest bid was $8.2 million.

SBA district director Mark Hayward said the agency plans to sell the property and already has received three proposals.

Journal file photo A recent aerial view of the former Rocky Point Amusement Park, on Warwick Neck.

The SBA will accept additional proposals for another 14 days.

The amusement park was shut down in 1995 and has been under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The area includes a summer community.

Rocky Point residents said they're still worried about the property's future. They are hoping to purchase a 29-acre section of the land on which they're located.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," said Carl Moberger, a resident who came to observe the auction.

While he was worried about a commercial developer picking up the property at the auction, he's still concerned the SBA may sell to someone who will wipe out the summer community and build condominiums on the waterfront property that residents praise for its beautiful views.

The residents hope to purchase the section of the parcel on which their homes are located.

"We're going to bid on our piece and see if we can pull it away from this," Moberger said.

Hayward said the site is being treated as a unit, but the agency will consider all proposals.

Mayor Scott Avedisian said the sale to the SBA was good news for the city and Rocky Point residents. The city has been working with SBA for two years and Avedisian said the agency is well aware of its concerns for how the property be handled.

Avedisian said the city wants the property's shoreline to get the deed to the parcel's shoreline so it can be opened to the public. The city also wants consideration given to preserving other open space on the parcel, locating a Rhode Island Public Transit Authority high-speed ferry dock there, and treating the summer residents fairly, he said.

Congressman Jim Langevin, D-R.I., called the property's sale to the SBA "a critical milestone in our multi-year effort to see that a substantial portion of the former amusement park is preserved for open space and public access."

Rocky Point was first used for Sunday School outings in 1840, eventually growing into a popular resort. Various attractions were added over time, including a bowling alley, an early version of the Ferris wheel, a roller coaster and even a hotel.

In 1883, the hotel and most of the other buildings were destroyed by fire. But by the turn of the century, the site had been developed as an amusement park. The park hit hard times in 1938, when it was devastated by a hurricane, and remained closed until 1948. It was shuttered for good in 1995.

Helen Kinoian, 76, of River Edge, N.J., said the amusement park was a favorite spot for her children, who grew up as she did, with summers on Rocky Point.

Her mother bought a house at the development in 1938 and she bought one in 1961. Several siblings also owned homes there, and the family spent summers together.

"My kids felt free and loose running around the park. Everyone knew each other ... They went fishing, they went boating," she said. "Those are the things we're fighting for, these memories."

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi.