Is Kennywood's Expansion in Jeopardy?

According the the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, cost overruns of over a billion dollars are putting completion of the the Mon-Valley Expressway in danger. This could delay or even bring an end to plans for Kennywood to expand.

With Kinzel and Co. owning 90% of Ohio's market, this expansion is more important than ever. Highway or no highway, KP will re-capital and expand. Period.

IMHO Kennywood might not expand as quick but the whole CF/Geauga/Paramount deal isn't gonna affect them toward the negative.

Many states and goverments are doing highway projects on toll basis these days. This might happen here.

Chuck

It is a toll road.

The article is not fact coming out of PennDOT, it's some consultant's report that went crying to the media with a nice juicy headline. The Mon-Fayette is too much of an economic boon to this area, and has been through too many tough fights that have been won to just lay down and die now. It might take a little while longer than first expected, but it will get built.

If Swann is elected governor, they'll get all the money they want. If Rendell gets re-elected, it all goes to Philly. If you live in between you only occasionally get a few leftover crumbs, but you do get some political hack to hand you an oversized check when you do get something. (Like, ooooh that check is so big, it must be worth lots of money!) :)

But Pittsburgh has better amusement parks, so you should definitely vote for our candidate. Yea. =) And tell your friends that too! Let's get Swann in there on the amusement park vote!

Not like there's anything in the middle of Pennsylvania other than a couple of cows, couple of mountains and the mobile home ;)

... oh yea, and one of the most kick-assin parks in the world ;)

*** Edited 5/23/2006 11:52:22 PM UTC by Impulse-ive***

Did you guys know that Lynn Swann used to go to Conneaut Lake Park every summer for 'Steeler Days'? It happened in the 70's for many years.

Swann is a better candidate, since he has 4 Super Bowl rings, and an MVP. He was alos elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. What about Rendell? Nothing. *** Edited 5/24/2006 1:15:24 AM UTC by Agent Johnson***

But Pittsburgh has better amusement parks... Parks? Plural? Are we defining the Greater Pittsburgh area extending from Erie to Tipton? Or did they finally finish up the Only In America park? :)

The number of super bowl rings a candidate has is an important factor in whether or not to vote for him. As for Rendell, he's been involved as a guest commentator on the Eagles post-game shows for the past several years. Yep, even as gov, he'd hop in his limo and drive every Sunday from Harrisburg to Philly. Luckily we had no important issues to deal with in the commonwealth the past 4 years.

If we are referring to "Pittsburgh" Parks this would mean parks in the Metro area. Kennywood and Idlewild. Philly has Clementon and Sesame Place.

Almost everyone would agree that KW has more to offer and is a better park than Clementon. Idlewild and Sesame are both mostly kid oriented but when it comes to rides, Idlewild has much more to offer.

Philly has several big parks about an hour's drive away. DP, SFGA and Moreys. Pittsburgh does not. The nearest major park outside the Pittsburgh area is GL (1 1/2 hrs. away) which is much like DP now that CF is getting it turned around. This is about the distance that HP is from Philly. Of course Pittsburgh has those small gems such as Waldameer and DelGrossos about 2 hours away. Philly has Knoebels at this distance which is a bigger gem. Finally, CP is about 3 hours from Pittsburgh. This is much further than SFGA from Philadelphia but most would agree that CP is the better park of the two.

THe claim about Pittsburgh seems valid as long as we stay within the Metro area. Overall Philly wins out if we are referring to all parks that can be visited without an overnight stay.

Um, how bout it was a joke?

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Impulse-ive said:

Not like there's anything in the middle of Pennsylvania other than a couple of cows, couple of mountains and the mobile home

... oh yea, and one of the most kick-assin parks in the world

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Actually, two kick-assin parks. Knoebels and Hershey are both reasonably nice places to go ;)

I think the discussion was all about expansion. Now we are comparing east and west. All PA's parks are great. Imagine living in North Dakota, and being a park enthusiast?

I couldn't live in North Dakota, although I have a friend in South Dakota and he's not too far from Arnold's Park. He once went there with a girl and didn't even know he was going to an amusement park, he was under the impression it was just a lake!

North Dakota is home to the geographical center of North America. What amusement park can beat that type of excitement?

That sounds like the kind of attraction Clark Griswold would find exciting.

"Look kids, we're standing at the geographical center of the continent of North America. Can you imagine anything being more exciting?"

If you hate amusement parks, ND would be a good place to live but Hawaii would be even better. No amusement parks for around 2000 miles in any direction. Seriously, while ND does not have the population to justify a park of significant size, Hawaii could at least use a small park with a couple of decent coasters. Also, what about Houston? Getting from there to SFOT or SFFT is like going from North Dakota to VF.

Pennsylvanians, consider yourselves fortunate no matter where you live in the state. How many states have so many great parks, big and small, along with so many other great parks in nearby states?

Yeah, PA is pretty much ground zero if you're looking for a ton of park options.

I imagine that part of the problem with building a park on a Hawaiian island would be the cost of getting the parts there. Just my idea though, I really know nothing about the reasons why Hawaii is home to no amusement parks.

Impulsive, mine was a joke too. Don't be so sensitive. Actually, I was watching PCN on election night when people were calling in to mention who they voted for in various races. Several people from across the state actually did call in and say they voted for Swann because they're Steeler fans.

Hah, besides I got you all beat. I live within an hour of 3 pretty good parks (KG, HP, DP), and within 1 1/2 hours of another 3-- (DW, BP, WG) OK so one is closed right now. And I don't live in ANY metropolitan area. Best part is NONE of them have "SF" anywhere in their name!

Knoebels and Hershey are what you would define as "pretty good"? Are there better parks that you're neglecting to tell us about? ;)