City won't fund Kentucky Kingdom

[Ian]

According to Business First, the Mayor of Louisville blocked a $20m Bond Issue which would have secured the reopening of Kentucky Kingdom.

The government would have made $450,000 a year in parking revenue. It would take 44 years and 5 months to recoup the $20m.

Ed Hart, leader of Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Co. LLC, is considering his options.

 

[KDGrizzly4Life]

Interesting. Is there still hope?

 

[Pablo237]

44 years?? Wow that's bad. Looks like good news for Ark Encounter sadly.

 

[ECG]

Ed Hart, leader of Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Co. LLC, is considering his options.

Options? What options? Six Flags killed the park & that's that!

 

[Artichoke]

Options? Seriously? Come on.

 

[Pablo237]

What was the $20 million going to be for exactly??

What options do they have if they aren't going get that money?? I have a feeling this is isn't going to happen.

 

[Ian]

If you click the "Business First" words in my post, it'll take you to the article where it's explained in more detail.

The problem here is all the decent attractions have been stripped out by Six Flags so what's left isn't appealing.

The lesson here is "use it or lose it."

 

[ECG]

What was the $20 million going to be for exactly??

Nice edit. :wink:
The money was to be used to get the park up & running. That's it. That amount wasn't even enough to reopen T2 & the twins. No major new rides or coasters would have been added until the park started to make money or another financial deal could have been worked out, which is unlikely since the state already turned down a $50 million bond.
Hart is paying out over $100,000 a month on this project in addition to the $3 million he shelled out to buy a portion of the land from Six Flags. I don't see him continuing this effort much longer.

 

[tks]

Should've asked the Colonel for the money!

 

[Tomatron]

He dead.

 

[Nic]

Should've asked the Colonel for the money!

lol!

It's a shame about this park. I thought the re-opening would be finger-licking good!

<getscoat>

 

[Ben]

I hope the meeting went something like this...

"If I'd known Six Flags parks were only twenty million, I'd have asked you to get me one, City, will you help me out?"

And then the Mayor could have been all "ahhhhh, aaaahhhhh, ahhhh, ah, ah... no"

 

[Nic]

LMAO!

*waits for Ed to post again with his signature...*

 

[rollermonkey]

Stick a fork in this place. It is done.

Do you know how rare it is for any park to make a comeback after 3 or more seasons closed?

 

[Snoo]

The park was doomed as soon as Six Flags bought it. Small regional parks, perfectly fine where they are, dieing a death that wasn't necessary because Six Flags doesn't know how to run a damn company.

 

[KDGrizzly4Life]

^More or less... And they can;t even take care of some of their other parks now.. geesh :/

 

[Ian]

Following the rejection of the $30m bond, Ed Hart has come back with another offer.

The bond request has been lowered to $17.5m and Mr Hart will increase his investment to $7m.

Hopefully they can get this resolved by the 30th April when the license to run the park expires. There could be life in this yet. I really admire Ed Hart's determination and dedication to this.

Lead investor Ed Hart has offered to increase his investment to $7 million and to make guarantees to reduce the risk to the city on a proposed $17.5 million bond issue in the hope of getting Kentucky Kingdom reopened in 2012 .

“We want to get Kentucky Kingdom open. We are looking at details (of the latest proposal) with a critical eye, to see if it is feasible,” said Chris Poynter, spokesman for Mayor Greg Fischer.

An agreement that Hart’s Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Inc. has with the Kentucky State Fair Board giving his group the right to operate the amusement park at the fairgrounds expires April 30. He was granted the rights after operator Six Flags filed for bankruptcy and abandoned the park in early 2010.

Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ ... y=nav|head

 

[Ian]

Those who have been following this will be aware that Ed Hart and his Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company had until 30 April to formulate a plan to reopen KK.

The Fair Board at Louisville council granted an extension to the deadline until September.

Source: http://www.fox41.com/story/14537377/dev ... om-funding

There's life in this yet!

 

[Pablo237]

We must not let the Ark Encounter win!! I hope this pulls through.

 

[Ian]

There's a strong possibility that it will reopen next year.

The Mayor of Louisville has proposed a plan to secure the $17.5m bond from an unnamed investor, taxes and parking fees.

The plan includes an annual debt repayment of $1.5 million over 20 years. The deal would also see the City gain a slice of any profits, including 30% of any profits should the park be sold.

If the plan is approved by the council , the park will reopen in a limited manner in 2012, with full opening in 2013.

Souce: http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/n ... ngdom.html