The Interpreter Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Let's see: Subject to the approval of the Six Flags bankruptcy judge in Delaware: * Fair Board gets all rides except Roadrunner Express...Six Flags to move it out. * Six Flags conveys the nearly 20 acres it owns to the Fair Board. * Six Flags gets $2.35 million in cash and more than $4 million debt forgiveness, from taxes owed to rent not paid. Ed Hart is paying the cash to Six Flags. Negotiations "continue" with Ed Hart. The Fair Board hopes to come to an agreement and open the park by Memorial Day of next year: ...Workman said the public-private partnership still "has to come together," and Hart said it is essential to any deal to restart Kentucky Kingdom. Hart declined this week to provide an estimate of how much money would be needed to open the park. Workman said that fair board officials have not conducted an extensive study of Kentucky Kingdom's rides since it closed, so he could not guess how much of an investment would be required.... http://louisville.bi...^3696121&page=1 From this, it is apparent that the Fair Board intends to have substantial direction into the future of the park. I am not at all sure that Mr. Hart and Mr. Workman (the Fair Board president) have visions for the park's future that at all coincide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGatorHead 8904 Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 The more I kept reading the article, the more uneasy I got... From the Fair board strikes deal for Kentucky Kingdom property - Business First of Louisville article: Following May's fair board meeting, Workman and Hart said they hoped Kentucky Kingdom could be reopened by Memorial Day 2011."I don't think that's slipped," Workman said this week. "It's all contingent on financing. I don't think that anyone has backed away from that (date) at this point." That statement just SCREAMS Freestyle Music Park to me. From the same article: His company, Themeparks LLC, later sought to develop venues in Nashville and near Seattle, but neither project materialized. Yikes! Like I've said before, I'll believe it when I see it. There's just so much that has to happen in order for this to go through... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cormaster Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Are they going to go back to the original logo? Its a shame they are still loosing chang though, and even more of a shame a good classic Arrow looper is being scrapped for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 Going back to the original logo? No one knows if the place will even open again yet...much less what logo it will use! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cormaster Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Well if they DO Open it do you think they'll go back to the original logo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 24, 2010 Author Share Posted July 24, 2010 Well, they the Fair Board will have the rights to it if the settlement with Six Flags is approved, but knowing the way parks operate, I bet Ed Hart and Co. would want to make things look splendidly new and not invoke the past...especially not at Kentucky Kingdom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 24, 2010 Author Share Posted July 24, 2010 The Courier Journal weighs in: * No mention of Roadrunner Express being retained by Six Flags. * Mention of the new park having its own parking, not using the Fair Board's. * Mention of part of the Kentucky Kingdom land being reclaimed by the Fair Board, and, thus, presumably not being a part of the park anymore: ...The fair board will reclaim about 10 acres inside the circle that Six Flags has been leasing. That land includes the two-story Kentucky Kingdom office building that Workman said the fair board is already using; several small buildings and a park amphitheater probably will be cleared, with several rides outside the circle to be offered to Hart.... As to the deal with Hart, the article has him saying: ...Hart said he has a deal with the state calling for him to make an initial investment of $3 million in the venture. Of that $2.35 million will go to compensate Six Flags, with the additional $650,000 to go for security, taxes, maintenance and several small leases he is assuming, Hart said. He noted that he plans to build a new entrance into Kentucky Kingdom and also to develop its own parking. Workman said the fair board has asked Hart to present to it by October a financing plan, a business plan and a proposed lease. The fair board is prepared to lease about 50 acres to Hart for the revamped amusement park, he said.... Then there is this, which will both please and displease some: ..."To reach the highest and best use, we need a full-fledged theme park," with a water park competitive with other major amusement attractions in Ohio and Southern Indiana and also a heavy emphasis on roller coasters, Hart said. "We still have a lot of negotiating to do," primarily with the state, Hart said. He said state tourism officials have begun an economic-impact study of a reopened Kentucky Kingdom.... http://www.courier-j...ags+land++rides In my opinion, this is far from a done deal, and may never happen at all. Note also this is the same Ed Hart that just the other day in another article was quoted as saying it is an emphasis on family attractions that is the recipe for success in the theme park business. NOW he says a heavy emphasis on roller coasters. Which is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBEW_Sparky Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Looks to me as if he has about the same grasp of reality and/or truth as another "operations guy" we all know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted July 24, 2010 Author Share Posted July 24, 2010 Oddly enough, they are of about the same era... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 And so it began, then came (and went) the Kochs... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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