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Lesourdsville Lake/ americana


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Channel 9 Wcpo Cincinnati reported at 6pm that Americana or Lesourdsville Lake will be No More. The rides will start being sold and the land devoted to Couches campers. The roller coaster the screechin eagle and heck even the serpent would be great for Kings Island . And Coney Island should buy the classic whip and the Ragin Log Flume rated the best in the world at one time. Wow what a sad day today in Cincinnati Amusements:

To Better days

and keeping the rides in Cincinnati:

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Fond childhood memories of a Tri-state amusement park will be all that's left now that the decision has been made to close it up for good.

The owner of Lesourdsville Lake, formally Americana, says the Monroe amusement park will likely never open again.

Most of the rides will be sold and the site will be used as a recreational vehicle dealership.

Lesourdsville Lake first opened in 1922 and was renamed Americana in 1978.

Americana closed in 1999, was sold to RV dealer Jerry Couch in 2000 and reopened in 2002 as Lesourdsville Lake.

But it closed quickly because of financial trouble and has been closed ever since.

It's not known what will become of the land

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I agree this is sad news. I never did get to visit this park, but from what I've heard it had one of the best woodies and log flumes around. I was just thinking about if they brought Serpant to KI.........the new BAVARIAN BEETLE, lol! laugh.gif Hopefully they'll at least find a way to get the Eagle relocated, but it doesn't sound hopeful right now. sad.gif

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And you know that how?? Personally, I would LOVE to see Coney Island buy the Whip. Coney is always touting its "Classic Rides" and the Whip is about as classic of a ride you can get! Also, the logflume would be a nice addition to Coney, but probably out of their price range. Another flat ride from Americana would be nice. Keep in mind that when Park River Corporation sold Americana, they relocated the Tempest from Americana to Coney Island, where it is still running today. Also, when Fantasy Farm closed (the park that was next to LeSourdsville Lake, the rides were auctioned. Coney Island ended up buying their Tilt-A-Whirl and their Sky Fighter children`s ride (the latter of which has since been removed from Coney, before my time working at the park).

ZosoBeast, how big is Americana`s Round Up? As big as the one at Coney? The one at Coney is also a Super Round Up and has room for 42 riders per cycle.

It is ashame that this classic park has to close. Hopefully, the classic wooden coaster won`t be lost either! With the park`s close proximity to PKI, it is no wonder that the park couldn`t financially compete.

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One good thing to come out of this so far is that Strickers Grove has purchased the "Electric Rainbow" super round up ride. This thing is HUGE and I cant wait to see where they are going to plop this thing at Strickers.

That ride was HUGE. I rode it when I was pretty young, I dont remeber much but its one of the best roundups I've been on.

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And yet another wonderful, quirky, family park is gone.

Sigh.

I will miss the Eagle, the wonderful flume, the Coffelt's fudge, the Rock-O, the big mouthed fish, the Serpent, the wonderful ride ops, the neat Fascination parlor, the Wallendas (yes, THE Wallendas), the train at the entrance (with REAL coal cars and a crossing guard!).

I loved Americana.

It is the place I first met Jeff, who would later do marketing at a certain larger park in the area...

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That is so sad! Both of my parents' companies had their company picnics at Americana in 1986. Those were the only two times I ever went there, and it was pretty fun. Raging Thunder was their new 'star' attraction that year, and the old wooden rollercoaster looked like it was falling apart (some of the wood on the supports were actually broken and dangling as the ride was operating!) I remember riding their version of the flyers, some rocketship hydro, a 280° theater thing, and the Electric Rainbow many, many times. I couldn't imagine it ever closing (because it was cheaper and more accessible than KI). 20 Years has gone by alarmingly fast. Watching it turn into an RV dealership to me is like watching PKI turn into a trailer park. sad.gif

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And you know that how??

Because Jerry Couch said that Screaming Eagle, the Log Flume, and the Merry Go Round are not for sale. That means he is either going to demolish them, or keep them. Obviously...

Maybe he will keep them as a pay per ride kinda thing, Like our beloved RCT game?.....he would only need a few operators and would make a lot of cash on the side. Just an Idea! But we don't know what shape they are in.

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Despite the fact that it would take "thousands" getting the eagles going again, I still think that a lot of parks could afford them. It would even be nice to see PKI get them (although from what I understand they're un-snappable).

In all of the negativity, let's take this time to appreciate that fact that despite the fact that Cincinnati amusements are at a loss, we still do have a wonderful park that continues to grow and change every year. You can claim you love or hate it, but if they didn't continually change, this would be the fate of our dear park.

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And don`t forget, the park that spawned Kings Island is still in operation! Coney is coming off the heels of one of its best seasons (at least in the rides department) since all the major rides were moved to KI in 1972. Coney is home to many classic rides, that used to reside at KI and have long since been removed. (Trabant, Round Up, Super Slide).

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Unfortunately yes the Screeching Eagle would be great but costly to move, but who knows! Also the whip must go to Coney island at any cost!!!

And yes Americana/Lesourdsville has a newer scooter ride. Same concept but not antiques like Kings Island`s or Holiday World's was!!!!!

wait we must do!!!

Edited by CoastersRZ
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