DeltaFlyer

I’m fairly sure that was where the movers hung in years past. They were taken down last year when they set up the larger stage and trussing on IS.

9:33pm... still working on the clearing. Why the urgency?

Just got off Beast.... can confirm the clearing extends to the brake shed. Maybe ~80 feet out from the left side of it.

I didn’t think you were serious.... but there is literally several excavators at work right this minute. Field of Screams is so exposed.

Props to the admins for getting that taken down so fast.

I talked about this a little (a lot) in my first post on this site, though FH ended up demolished. Tony Ravagnani does some pretty awesome work. I've done several Cedar Fair projects with him.

It is entirely possible it is used for something other than a coaster. Flat rides and normal commercial buildings can also use 480V power. The new "Plaza" and associated buildings some people are talking about could have something to do with that. Also, with Firehawks's queue still remaining, wouldn't it be more likely to reuse it for a flat ride queue than a new coaster? It would be the right length for something like that.

There are several pieces of construction equipment out behind Racer near the Action Theater. As I recall there were several dozers and excavators. Not necessarily. The park buys what is called "Primary Power" from the utility (Duke). This means the power comes in at about 14,000 Volts to a demarcation point, and from that point on it is the parks responsibility for distribution and any further step down. That is in comparison to "Secondary Power" where the customer purchases the power already stepped down to a more reasonable 480V or 208V for commercial or 120/240 for residential. When purchasing secondary power, the utility provides the transformer and transformer pad, and it is the customers responsibility from then on. Since KI is purchasing power at 14kV, they own all of the distribution equipment that is in the park, and are responsible for maintaining it. Kings Island is basically a small city- it makes sense for them to have their own equipment. It is highly unlikely that Duke would own that transformer. If you go back and look at the KMAA drawings you can see that the EC was responsible for providing the transformer and not the Utility. I can see no reason why Firehawk would have been any different. If they left that transformer there, they intend to reuse it. It does not make sense to demo that entire structure and leave it perfectly intact along with the underground conduit if it were being intended to be relocated or removed. It has also been ~4 months since Firehawk's demolition was started, and probably 2 months since it was completed. I doubt the Utility would want their property sitting around that long if it was theirs. Source: Experience as an MEP engineer

Also interesting to note that Firehawk’s Transformer and Transformer pad has been left in place. I would assume it’s intended to be reused for something, whether that is a coaster, flat, or other building isn’t possible to say from that. It is still significant that it’s still there, though. Most of the other site utilities seem to have been removed, so it would have made sense to go ahead and remove it as well, but it was carefully undisturbed. I’m sure that some of the storm drains were left as well, and that is what we are seeing with some of the cones out there.

It is the transformer that powered the ride/lift motor. No sense in removing it when something may go there that uses 3-phase 480V service....

No, there is definitely a new building going up. I thought it looks like a bridge or maybe a small pole barn.

Taken through the gate for the corn maze under racer. You can see the clearing here... I don’t think ET is open but I will look.

I also just noticed that there is a structure being built back in the woods already, it looks like a bridge or a small pole barn.

There is an insane amount of clearing. Active construction. Most of Dino’s Alive trees are down. Saw this while riding Racer. It stretches behind racer from the maintenance buildings all the way to the action theatre. I will try to get a photo... somehow. But I think this all but confirms it. Too long and narrow to be a Dive Machine.

No, a THIRD cone. If it wasn’t confirmed, it is now.

Here is all I can see through the fence. I’m not tall enough to get over it, even jumping. No teasers, no posters, nothing over here. All I can see is the dirt and some cones which I assume are marking/covering some storm drains.

I can’t see anything through it....

I second this!!

On that topic, I found out something interesting when visiting the PTC booth at IAAPA. The steel cables that run across the back of KI’s PTC trains are not a manufacturer recommended practice. When talking with the folks there they hadn’t ever heard of a park doing that, and thought it must be something the park decided to do. Perhaps someone here has an idea of why the park maintenance department came up with that? Here is a photo of what I am talking about:

They are gone for good, my friend.

I would love to see an S&S coaster at a Cedar Fair Park sometime in the future. If Steel Curtain does well, it could very well be possible we see them building a lot more non-free spin or pneumatic launch coasters. With that being said, their first go at an LSM coaster wasn’t exactly the greatest success. Cedar Fair does have to buy a lot of spare parts from them as it is, so the relationship is already there.

Went past CSF today.... lots of track sitting outside. Appears to be the right size for a hyper/giga. Take a look and tell me what you think. The track is a dark red/brown color. I’d assume this is for a 2020 attraction. Photo taken safely from the street (legally).

Permit drawings and an NOC are two different things- plans would certainly have to be approved before work begins, with the exception of site grading. You do not need a permit to begin excavation or trenching for footings with a permit as long as no concrete is poured or anything structural occurs. Site utilities (such as stormwater and fire/potable water lines) need to be permitted. I’m merely saying that the NOC is a blanket document that can cover many different individual projects (think KMAA and a proposed/rumored Giga, completed within 2018-2020 but two completely different projects). I’ve seen plenty of projects where there is a large amount of grading or clearing to be done and the sitework contractor wants to get started before the permit- as long as their contract states that the scope of work is subject to change until the permit drawings are appoved and they are responsible for any changes that would arise based on comments from the county, they could start working. From the Warren County Building and Zoning Department website: “If you are planning to start construction right away, you can excavate all you want, but you cannot pour any concrete until the permit has been issued and a footer inspection has been made.” Someone correct me if I am wrong.... my construction law class was a few years ago.

I’d love to see the permit drawings for Firehawk’s demoliton. Perhaps they would give some indication to anything new in that area if there was a site grading or drainage plan. I’m not sure if plans are required for every demo job (a permit itself is, and I would think they’d want a drawing to know the scope of work) but any information would certainly be interesting to see. I don’t think that you have to file drawings and have them approved before the NOC is filed. In this case, that would require submitting permit drawings years in advance of the actual mobilization for construction, which really isn’t feasible from a design perspective. I think it’s more like they are saying “Sometime in the next 3 years we are building things, this is our declaration of a start date for lien purposes”. I’m not sure of Warren County’s process for obtaining the paperwork- I will find out next time I’m there. Some (permits-no drawings) of it is available online, but I couldn’t find anything very recent.

Sounds like a trip to the Warren County Building & Zoning department might be in order. I’m there several times a month for my job, perhaps next time I’ll inquire on the availability of drawings to the public.