Koch family withdraws from Kentucky Kingdom project

Posted | Contributed by Lord Gonchar

[Ed. note: The following is the release published to the Bluegrass Boardwalk site on June 15, 2012.]

Following nine months of planning to reopen Louisville’s shuttered amusement park, Bluegrass Boardwalk, Inc. today withdrew from the project.

“We entered into this discussion last October with full expectation of leasing the park,” says Bluegrass Boardwalk CEO Natalie Koch. “However, we have come to the realization that leasing a park rather than owning it would take us too far from the business model my family has followed for more than 60 years.”

Koch says she and her partners were financially prepared to meet the challenge of reopening the abandoned park, however the many layers of governmental regulations and stipulations ultimately caused them to withdraw.

Koch says she and her partners believe reopening the Louisville park is still a worthwhile project and they wish the future operator well.

“It’s been a lifelong dream for my family to operate a second park,” says Koch, whose family owns and operates Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. “It’s hard to walk away from what we believed was a winning partnership for Kentucky and our team. But at the end of the day, the terms of the project did not fit our business model. It was time to withdraw.”

A letter terminating the proposed lease agreement was delivered to the Kentucky State Fair Board this afternoon.

See the statement on the official Bluegrass Boardwalk site.

Related parks

Kentucky Kingdom

Lightning fast Gonchar Get credit for the Submission too. :-)

884 Coasters, 34 States, 7 Countries
http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com My YouTube

The release subtly frames what I think is the biggest problem here... that a government agency owning the place just keeps getting in the way.

Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog

Not surprised or shocked in the slightest.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

I'm actually happy that they decided to get out before getting too far into this project. The Kentucky Fair Board ran Six Flags out, so what was going to stop them from taking advantage of the Koch's? I was surprised that Holiday World wanted in on this in the first place.

-Travis
www.youtube.com/TSVisits

As much as I would love to see Kentucky Kingdom reopened, and as much as I've love to see the Kochs managing it, I think this move is very smart and a good decision.

My author website: mgrantroberts.com

Guess they'll have to beg Hart to take it now.

Considering he is doing them, I wouldn't count on it.

884 Coasters, 34 States, 7 Countries
http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com My YouTube

^ Now THIS is a shocking development ! He's doing them now, all of them? lol

Oh yeah, you like that, doncha, Fair Board?

Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog

I humbly invite the Koch family to make their dream of a second park come true here in Nashville.

"I've been born again my whole life." -SAVED

Jeff said:
Oh yeah, you like that, doncha, Fair Board?

And all I can think of is what George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did to poor Indy in the 4th movie.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/187269/look-out-indy

Damn voice recognition! I meant sueing. :-)

884 Coasters, 34 States, 7 Countries
http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com My YouTube

I'm curious... why doesn't KFB just sell the park? They have to realize that after being turned down twice by leasing reasons. I'm sorry if this have been asked before.