Senator asks Cedar Fair to preserve Geauga Lake's Big Dipper

I like Sherrod Brown, but come on, the gesture isn't that big of a deal, and he sure as hell didn't write the letter himself.

Everyone keeps plugging the outdoor mall thing. It was in the teens today. That's cold. Those places suck when it's cold. I never go to Legacy Village (which is 20 minutes at most from GL) this time of year. I can't be the only one.

I don't believe anyone is suggesting that public tax dollars be spent on preserving the Dipper. I figured this was just the Senator voicing his opinions and stressing that someone find a way to get something done.

Thank you Jeff for making some sense. I'm not sure everyone understands how much snow Northeast Ohio gets. Pretty much, at any time of the winter, a storm can drop 10 inches of snow. Maybe some of you want to walk around in that kind of weather, but not me. We have two inches on the ground now and I'm already complaining.

Mall of America works because it's INDOORS in MINNESOTA. If it were outdoors, it wouldn't work at all.

Nope HeyIsn'tThatRob, I win.

Constitution party, When people wake up and realize the polititians are all in the grip of the media and lobbiest, It will come around.

Maybe not in my lifetime but at least I can vote without regrets.

Chuck

I always love reading the comments attached to the internet news articles. Funnier than Jay Leno with his person on the street things. Then you get that Rob Ascough guy commenting and.... uh, well, oops. :) Rob, I wonder if you're the one being accused of being the staffer.

I've been involved with a few senatorial/representative proclamation things (at the state, not federal level). Basically, someone in your group writes what you want the thing to say, one of their staff reviews it to make sure he's not signing something whacky, then they stamp his signature on it.

It's funny how a lot of the comments in the paper say it's a corporate decision the Senator has no business being involved in, but he should worry about things like providing jobs or stopping layoffs. Aren't those pretty much corporate decisions too? But you know, after reading 40 or so comments filled with bad grammar and usage, misspelled words, and no train of logical thought, it's hard to argue with someone who says he should be more concerned with education.

Love how I'm being labeled a "troll" because my heart didn't soften like the rest of yours at the news of a Senator writing a letter to Cedar Fair about Big Dipper's preservation.

The idea and effort is cute at best, yes. But what is this really going to do for the Big Dipper? Really. Unless Mr. Senator can pony up a personal check to save the ride, it'll all fall in the hands of a potential buyer to decided the fate of the coaster. To Cedar Fair, Big Dipper is nothing more than an 80-some year old expendable assett waiting for its final sentence.

Sorry if my responses haven't been all heartwarming.

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Krax can pretty much always be counted on to cause the aggregate intelligence of a conversation to take a dive.

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And Rob can always be counted on to make everything personal when it comes down to someone that doesn't share any sympathetic feelings on any one particular given subject.

*** This post was edited by kRaXLeRidAh 12/6/2007 5:15:51 PM ***

"Munch said the ride has played a major role in many people's lives, and he hopes it can continue providing fond memories for many more years."

How could one ride play a major role in many people's lives? Sure, it employed a few people over the years, brought some people out to the park, but I think that line was overreaching just a little bit.

The second half of the line I don't have a problem with.

Well I heard that Cedar Fair is ignoring Sherrod and that the government wants to save it too but, still ignoring them. Here's what cedar fair did,1. closed geauga lake 2. removing and putting up rides for auction. 3. The government wants to save the Dipper but Cedar Fair Ignores them. this seems a good or/and bad situation to save a historic ride. i don't know what to do about it. Well nothing isn't the same without big dipper so, save it people.

"Sorry if my responses haven't been all heartwarming."

It's not a matter of being heartwarming, it's a matter of wildly blowing something out of proportion just to get your digs in at a ride that you don't care for, with fans you enjoy riling up.

He's one elected official, he had a staffer write up a note to CF, and it got one little article in the Sandusky Register. Nobody in this thread ever suggested anything like "if a U.S. Senator asks Cedar Fair to preserve it, that just totally means they have to do it." I mean really if you're going to gripe about something at least do it about something pertinent.

Although it is sad to see a park that has lasted this long go, thats progress. Parks open and close thats just how it is. CF has to serve the best interest of their company and GL probably wasn't performing up to the standards that it was expecting it to so they chose to close it down. Bottom line, the property would make more money with them selling the water front property in the short term than it would to stay and amusement park....They could have scaled down the park but think about how long that would have taken and a lot of effort just to make a park smaller. As far of the letter it was a nice gesture, thats about it.

This thread isn't about CF closing Geauga Lake. It's about making any effort to save the oldest functioning coaster in the State.

Ugh. The government doesn't want to do anything. Where the hell are you guys getting that? A senator wrote a letter. That's all.

I don't understand why Krax isn't entitled to dislike the ride and disregard its preservation.

And by the way, the park is in the snow belt, big time. Not an ideal place for a year-round anything that involves anything more than a short walk from your car to somewhere indoors.

Isn't Legacy Village thriving? I know after it's first year, they had 94% occupancy, $225 million in sales and over 3 million visitors.

The only store that I know of that left was EXPO Design Center. If I'm not mistaken, that was because of internal Home Depot issues, not the shopping complex.

The completely outdoor "mall" which is located in an area much more prone to heavy snowfall than Geauga Lake has been open for over four years now and is going strong.

How are First & Main (in Hudson) and Crocker Park (in Westlake) doing? We all know that Easton Town Center is wildly successful even though they're further South.

Outdoor malls do just fine in northern climates. Prime Outlets only do outdoor mall settings throughout the U.S. and many of them are in winter climate states including Illinois and Wisconsin.

Aurora Ohio is no exception.

Another example is Navy Pier in Chicago. They have amusement park rides , shopping, dining, etc.

Some of you need to stop thinking that this idea of a shopping and entertainment idea on Geauga Lake is far fetched. It's very feasible and other locations have proven this.

Here is what is NOT feasible about an outdoor shopping location at the Lake:

Access.

How many outdoor shopping malls (outlets) are you aware of that are not built right next door to a major interstate? Or, at least a road system with heavy traffic?

I can name one: Aurora Farms. And, let's see how Aurora Farms is doing after a couple of years without their neighbors.

"This thread isn't about CF closing Geauga Lake. It's about making any effort to save the oldest functioning coaster in the State."

Good Lord, I never thought of this, but that makes the Little Dipper at Memphis Kiddie Park the oldest coaster in the state, followed by CP's Blue Streak and Cedar Creek Mine Ride.

Ouch.

Tom

Well, Screechin' Eagle is SBNO, but as far as operating coasters go, it would be LD. That's disturbing.

Nice job preserving our state history. In the words of Chrissie Hynde, way to go O-hi-o.

I'm sure Cedar Fair has a plan. They just aren't sharing it with us. I was just thinking that it will likely take some action from the local or state government to save the ride. CF knows this and won't do anything to jeopardize their business. Now, if Ensign Smith is correct, I'm thinking maybe they'd like the oldest coaster in the state to be at Cedar Point. Maybe they're going to try and 'bump off' the older rides.

Krax is certainly entitled to his opinion but people are just as entitled to call out his pattern, which I'm glad isn't obvious only to me. I couldn't care less about him being anti-preservation or anti-Dipper but some of his comments are blatant attempts to troll the site and annoy people. Matt and I are merely calling him on that. My motives for posting can be put into question (asshattery, anyone?) but I can't call out someone when I feel their motivation for posting us suspect?

I don't get this whole "it snows in Cleveland" crap. It snows in a lot of places throughout the country, yet people don't lock themselves inside their houses from December to March. What's the difference between walking from store to store in an outdoor mall and walking two miles from your parking space to the mega mall in the heart of the holiday season? How is the potential for cold weather and snow going to kill the concept's chances of thriving? Ever been to New York City around the holidays? People spend hours and hours walking around with snow, rain and winds howling between the skyscrapers making conditions less than ideal. Why don't they care? Because they're having a good time.