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Geauga Lake up for sale... again.

Hyde

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
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Cedar Fair is attempting once more to sell the original Geauga Lake property. They have reduced the amount of land that can be purchased to 3.5 acres, in an attempt to attract more potential buyers. The plot consists of 500 acres total.

The park closed in 2007 and has repeatedly been put up for sale, but has never been able to attract a big time buyer. Similar attempts have been made to sell the last remaining roller coaster, the Big Dipper; Ohio's oldest operating wooden coaster until closing (and an ACE Coaster Classic). All other rides have either been relocated to other Cedar Fair parks (Dominator, Firehawk, Possessed, etc.), sold, or scrapped for metal.

http://ow.ly/ioJ58
 
Lets see if we can get this to Holiday World :lol:

But srsly, wasnt the old park side supposed to become a massive housing complex?
 
Intricks said:
But srsly, wasnt the old park side supposed to become a massive housing complex?
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The housing recession of 2008 blew all hopes out new condos/complexes out of the water.
 
Ah, never really paid much attention to it after the land had pretty much been plundered and whatnots.

It will be interesting to see what comes though. Hopefully something of use and entertainment.
 
Geauga Lake has such a rich history of tourism and entertainment - founded in 1887, older than Cedar Point - I'd like to think that something could work out in the long run.
 
So do I, but the hope is slim.

I just hope something happens soon since that area is just disgusting.
 
Well, the good news is everything of worth (outside of Big Dipper) has been removed, so the land can't "deteriorate" as it has all been reduced to rubble, cement footers, and old pathways - ripe for construction.

But I agree, if you hope to development, you want it sooner rather than later.
 
A friend of mine have been arguing over this for well over a few hours, and I am going to bring it up here.

Would it be financially sane to try and start a small park, something akin to Kennywood and Waldameer, even with how the surrounding town has basically sunk due to nothing there to bring anyone in?

My argument is that if done and marketed correctly, it would certainly be possible although the startup cost would be vast. It woukd help the surrounding area and I think business would go well for it since it would be better for the lower incomce family to afford and there could potentially be something there for everyone (minus the real massive height factor).

My friend argues that Cedar Point would still be the large crowd puller (which I admit it will be), and any attempt at starting there would have a massive drawback due to a more than likely smaller crowd base in the beginning.

Honestly, would it be that bad? Holiday World seems to be prospering even with Kings Island as main competition, and Im using that scenario as the main base for my argument (heck, even Kennywood works with this too). Geauga Lake even had a nice sized crowd before it got bought out by Six Flags, and the crowd just grew after that.
 
At this point in time, no. We are still coming out of an economic recession, which makes it a crummy time to try such a large construction project.

Cedar Fair has tried to sell the 500 remaining acres of Geauga Lake as one whole property, but has failed to do so for six years. The new move of selling off small lots indicates that large-scale development simply isn't feasible for the area at present.

It boils down to market base. Cleveland is the primary market for Cedar Point, which was apart of the reason for Geauga Lake's downfall in the first place. Geauga Lake always depended on a Northeastern Ohio market, which dried up during the late 90s as Cedar Point began doubling down on large roller coasters and attractions.

Every park needs its market. Kennywood has Pittsburgh. Holiday World has Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky (and honestly draws a different market than Kings Island, which is focused on Cincinnati exclusively). Waldameer, just over the Ohio border in Erie, Pennsylvania, is an extremely local attraction.

An even more recent example of this is Hard Rock Park and Myrtle Beach Pavilion in Myrtle Beach, SC. Pavilion was a 60 year old legacy park, and Hard Rock Park a new kid on the block with spanking new rides. Both failed however as Myrtle Beach tourists were simply not interested in amusement thrills and were spending their money elsewhere.
 
Ehhhh..... I wouldn't go THAT far, Pavilion was popular, the owners just felt the land was worth more to sell than to keep as a park. Think Opryland, successful seasonal park but the owners felt a more "year round" venue would bring in the money..... So they tore-down the park and built a mall people don't care about.

Now to get off topic......

HRP was just too far from the beach, not free admission, no kids ticket or kids rides (at first) and thought they could pull an Islands of Adventure but in Myrtle Beach. And to say MBP 'failed' yet lasted some 60 years is pretty amusing :P
 
^ What I meant was that while Pavilion had a good run, there came a moment when the land was more valuable for other purposes, such as a mall.
 
Hyde244 said:
Geauga Lake has such a rich history of tourism and entertainment - founded in 1887, older than Cedar Point - I'd like to think that something could work out in the long run.
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Actually Cedar Point was built in 1870 so it is older than Geauga Lake
 
Er yeah, misspoke. Cedar Point opened as a picnic grove in 1870, which included ferry service from the downtown. Geauga Lake opened for picnicking in 1872, two years later.

What I was originally citing was Geauga Lake officially calling themselves an amusement park in 1887. Cedar Point was a bit slow in this regard, not becoming an official amusement park until the Boeckling era in 1897.
 
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