Business man wants to build successor to Idora, has no money

Sounds to me like nostalgia is his business plan. I don't understand people who think that's enough to make something happen.

Least his heart is in the right place.

Anyone ever catch the name of the CPC's parents? Carl Severino perhaps?

All I will say is, BEWARE. Did you see that he is in marketing, and that he served a stint at Conneaut Lake? Carl contacted me several years ago looking for support for his plans to move the Jack Rabbit, and rebuild the Wildcat at Conneaut. When I brought his name up to others though, I heard nothing but negative responses accusing him of scams and the like. I don't know about this. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Sounds nice, but nobody could ever really "recreate" Idora. I don't think the northeastern Ohio/western PA market offers much promise for a new amusement park, either.

Lots of folks seem to have this one pegged. The name Severino immediately struck a chord with me too....vague recollections of poorly-conceived *grandiosity* from his previous "schemes". :(

Nostalgia alone won't make a business succeed, and my guess is that even IF feasibility studies were funded, they'd all come to the same conclusion: this is a no-brainer, and would be extremely hard-pressed to succeed even with the right management team...

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that THIS time Severino's heart is in the right place....his head is stuck up his backside...

"I have no money, someone build me a park"....even the CPC/CPO had a better *business plan*, pooling their allowances to relocate defunct rides...

*** This post was edited by rollergator 2/2/2004 11:32:53 AM ***

Carl had a big promotion to help raise funds for the study he needs. It was the Hayride of Doom, and the money was to be used for the feasability study.

There's alot of people with their hearts in the right place, and we all wish we had the money to rebuild the park.

Check out the great people at www.idorapark.org to see a great group dedicated to the memory of the park.

That's exactly what it should be... a memory, not a revival.

Why do you always sound so down on the traditional parks Jeff? Could it be that you haven't been to any except Kennywood? When was the last time you want to Indiana Beach, Knoebels, Canobie, Whalom, Conneaut, Idlewild, Lakemont, Blands, Erieview, Waldameer, Seabreeze, Lake Winnie, Camden, Williams Grove, Martins Fantasy Island. How do you know what should be a memory? You never even rode the Chippewa coaster I'll bet, and you slam that area too. Should I remind you of the town which you reside? It's right up the street!!

Whoa!!!! take it easy thrillerman. Jeff may sound down on traditional parks but he is entitled to his opinion, but there is a somewhat large step in quality from Kennywood to Conneaut Lake. I was in a band with 3 guys from the linesville/conneaut lake/meadville area and was eager to visit CLP when we toured up that way last summer. Its has to be said that the enthusiast's fondness and the general public's opinion of that park is very very different. And I imagine it might be that way with several of the other parks you mentioned.

Idora was dying a slow, horrible death before the fire.With the mills closing in the valley, the population base was shrinking daily. Not enough people walk through the gate, not enough money to pay the bills. Not enough money to put in new rides and attractions. The fire just hastened the inevitable. Sure I'd like to go back to Idora, just like I'd like to go back to West View. It just wasn't to be. Be thankful for what we still have.

Give it a rest Thrillerman. I'm not down on anything. I am a realist. Good intentions don't mean anything. And you don't know jack about me or where I've been, so keep your judgement to yourself. What I did or didn't do doesn't mean I can't have an opinion. I've never won an Oscar but I can still decide for myself if a film sucks or not.

But since you asked, no, I haven't been to most of those parks. It's not that I've avoided them or anything, I just don't drive all over the country hitting every little park I can so I can post on a Web site about qualified I am to discuss the merits of small parks. My vacation time and money goes to traveling with my wife where there are no coasters (Hawaii is nice, you should go) or with my volleyball kids and their families to out-of-state tournaments. That's far more rewarding to me, and I'm not interested if you think otherwise.

If you want to debate something, let's debate the merits of whether or not such a park could sustain itself. Trying to make it about me doesn't change reality, it just makes your position weak.

Didn't Carl's management team almost bankrupt Conneaut Lake Park a second time, before the trustees evicted him?

Speaking of Hawaii, why would someone want to build a park within a few hours of CP, WoA, Kennywood, Conneaut, Waldameer, PKI, SFDL, Idlewild, Marineland, Martin's, etc.?

Want to build a successful park? There are plenty of places (e.g. Hawaii) where there's no competition and where a large, untapped market awaits.

People forget that defunct parks closed for a reason. If people wanted to go to them, they'd still be operating today.

I admit to getting feelings usually reserved for chicks viewing Hugh Grant movies when I see those Chippewa/Idora/Euclid pics. The best thing you can do to support defunct parks, though, is to visit ones that are still open so they don't disappear, too.

Carl seems to be a dreamer. If bringing back Idora was a good idea investors would jump in, but obviosly its not, you can't hold on to every piece of history, just the memories. Like where I live its a pretty old city, with a lot of old old homes and historic preservation is generally the first order of business, but sometimes to keep the city ahead of the game some of these have to be torn down. The same thing happens to historic battlefields, you can't save them all just a handful of them. Besides that bringing back Idora won't bring back the park itself, it won't be the same Idora of old, it will be just a small park in Youngstown, Ohio, which is a dump. My grandfather packed up and moved out of their in '47. My point is if it was a feasible idea he would have backers and investors.

kpjb,

I am not sure how much of a market exists in Hawaii for a park. There are only 1.2 million people in the entire state (2000 census) and those are spread out on islands that require a boat or plane to transport them between islands. I know that they have a huge potential market with tourists, however, the majority of people that go to hawaii are not looking to go to an amusement park.

What about an FEC with a large woodie? Would that make it there (Hawaii)? If I win the Powerball I may build a woodie there because of the near perfect climate.

E.K. Fernandez IS the amusement business on the Islands. He has a carnival that he floats on barges to play dates on the islands and FEC's on the main island. If he felt that a full blown park would make it there, he would have built it by now.

"Hi, I'd like to purchase fire insurance for a large wooden coaster on the side of a volcano...stop laughing, I'm serious!" :)