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Koch Family withdraws from Bluegrass Boardwalk

project in Louisville, KY

Update : 18:12 Published by François Mayné the 25 June 2012, Project.

Just a few days after the announcement of a delayed opening to 2014, the Koch family has created a stir by stating that she was withdrawing permanently from the Bluegrass Boardwalk project that sought to take over the management of the former Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, KY.

The Koch, already owners of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, IN, started to work on this project in October last year and obtained a few months ago a lease agreement from the Kentucky State Fair, owners of the land on which the amusement park is. Since then, administrative procedures added to a first study of the facilities and rides closed since 2008 had forced them to delay the opening initially scheduled for 2013.

Koch Family withdraws from Bluegrass Boardwalk

“We entered into this discussion last October with full expectation of leasing the park,” said Bluegrass Boardwalk CEO Natalie Koch. “However, we have come to the realization that leasing a park rather than owning it would take us too far from the business model my family has followed for more than 60 years. We and our partners were financially prepared to meet the challenge of reopening the abandoned park, however the many layers of governmental regulations and stipulations ultimately caused them to withdraw .”

Just before this announcement, the Koch had received a positive answer from the state authorities for tax breaks of up $3.9 million (about €3.1 million) over 10 year, paving the way for the signing of the lease and the beginning of the renovation work. “It’s been a lifelong dream for my family to operate a second park,” added natalie Koch. “It’s hard to walk away from what we believed was a winning partnership for Kentucky and our team. But at the end of the day, the terms of the project did not fit our business model. It was time to withdraw.”

It is not the first time that a buyer gives up to managing Kentucky Kingdom. The first owner of the park, Ed Hart, has indeed tried unsuccessfully to obtain the management lead after Six Flags left the property despite 18 months of negociations with the Kentucky State Fair. Despite this disapointing news, the autorities and especially Louisville's Major still hope to find a new tenant for the park. Discussions are apparently already under way with new potential operators... But it is hard to say if these will succeed or not...

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari - - -

Written by François Mayné

François Mayné Publishing Director » Contact Us
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Compagnie des Alpes
(25 articles found)

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The Compagnie des Alpes leisure parks recorded disappointing financial results during fiscal year 2012/2013 which ended on September 30. The...

CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on November 10, 2013

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Bienvenue à Paris! Enthusiasm was reigning among the aisles of the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris last week, while the Euro ...

FEATURE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on September 29, 2013

Compagnie de Alpes' leisure park sales continue to decline in the third quarter read more

Adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the season and the ever difficult economic conditions in Europe have negatively impacted the activities...

CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on September 9, 2013

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NewsParcs' Theme Park Industry News Roundup is a summary of the latest major news related to the theme park industry worldwide. This Industry Roundup reports news specifically on operators, owners, trade associations and...

NEW | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on August 11, 2013

Compagnie des Alpes' leisure park activity is down in first half of FY 2012-2013 read more

The French operator Compagnie des Alpes (CDA), which owns a dozen leisure parks and attractions in Europe and North America - including Parc...

CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on June 18, 2013

Attendance throughout global major theme parks reported more than 5% growth in 2012 read more

The global market for theme parks has behaved rather well in 2012. These are the conclusions of the 2012 Theme Index report released last week...

FEATURE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on June 11, 2013

Compagnie des Alpes first quarter results affected by the school calendar read more

Compagnie des Alpes (CDA), which owns and operates ten leisure parks and attractions in Europe including Walibi amusement parks, Parc Asterix,...

CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on February 2, 2013

Bellewaerde Park prepares the opening of Huracan with ZIERER and TAA Industries read more

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