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Businessman Ed Hart takes the reins of Kentucky

Kingdom after 4 years of closure

Update : 10/07/13 - 18h58 Published by François Mayné the 9 July 2013, New.

Kentucky Kingdom amusement park along with the Hurricane Bay water park, located in Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, both will reopen their doors in May 2014. It's the end of an administrative saga which will have lasted nearly four years, since the withdrawal in 2009 of their previous operator Six Flags while it was, at that time, in a financial restructuring.

The Kentucky State Fair, owner of the 24 hectares/59 acres of land and of Kentucky Kingdom's facilities, has chosen a new handler in the person of the local businessman Ed Hart, a well-known figure on the spot since he was the operator of the park between 1989 and 1997. Together with several partners grouped in the company Kentucky Kingdom LLLP, Ed Hart signed with the Kentucky State Fair a lease-management agreement for a period of 70 years.

Kentucky Kingdom had been the subject of several unsuccessful attempts of take- back, Ed Hart himself being a candidate in 2011 before throwing in the towel. In early 2012, the Koch family (owners of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in the neighboring state of Indiana) unveiled its intention to resume the management of the park under the name of Bluegrass Boardwalk, before giving up after several months of negotiations, the administrative hurdles being considered too numerous. The main reason of the withdrawal was disagreements over tax cuts and financial aid deemed essential by the candidate operator to ensure the continued existence of the activity on site, while the US economy was still recovering from the financial crisis.

After the withdrawal of the Koch family, the Kentucky State Fair Board decided to make another call for candidates to which Kentucky Kingdom LLLC would ultimately be the only one to submit a proposal. After further negotiations, the lease was finally granted in late January 2013. This time, the new operator obtains guaranteed a successful take- back by getting tax cuts of about $10 million over a period of 10 years and financial assistance.

Kentucky Kingdom LLLP's partners brought together a budget of $43.5 million ($28.5 million in capital and $15 million bank loan) to finance the renovation of existing facilities and the introduction of new rides to revive the park by 2014. At a press conference held in late June, they gave the first details on their business plan that includes to double the size of Hurricane Bay water park with the addition of three water slides complexes, a 1,115-sqm/12,000-sqft wave pool and an adventure river. A new roller coaster has also been announced as the main addition for the reopening.

Left: group photo of the team that has been assembled of the assessment period. Right: Ed Hart during the press conference held at the end of June.

Major attractions still standing at Kentucky Kingdom will be rehabilitated in depth, including the wooden roller coaster Thunder Run (Dinn Corporation, 1990), the River Rapids raft ride (Intamin), the Shoot the Chute Mile High Falls (Hopkins Rides), the electromagnetic waterslide Deluge (ProSlide), the Ferris wheel (Vekoma Rides) and the motion theater Thrill Park Theater. The rehabilitations will continue in 2015 with a makeover of the Inverted Coaster T2 (a SLC model of Vekoma Rides) and in 2016 with the CCI's dueling wooden roller coaster Twisted Twins that should get a full retracking.

Ed Hart confirms its ambition to develop Kentucky Kingdom in the long term, with the main objective to become once again Kentucky's first paying tourist attraction. "We will continue to introduce new attractions each season. In fact, per our lease with the state, we have an obligation to invest as much as $2.5 million each year for as many as 70 years. That would equal an investment of more than $200 million, including our initial outlay of $43.5 million,” he said. The new operator expects to welcome nearly 800,000 visitors in 2014 and 1 million in 2015 before climbing gradually to reach the 1.4 million admissions by 2030. Some 60 full-time staff and about 800 seasonal job will be hired.

While the financing has been secured, an essential requirement for the agreement with the Kentucky State Fair, the renovation work has begun. The opening is scheduled for May 24, 2014, ie the day after the 27th birthday of the Kentucky Kingdom's original grand opening in 1987.

Waterpark - Roller Coasters - ProSlide Technology - Vekoma Rides Manufacturing - Intamin Amusement Rides - Hopkins Rides - Holiday World & Splashin' Safari - - - -

Written by François Mayné

François Mayné Publishing Director » Contact Us
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