WAVE 3 - Louisville, KYFair Board: ‘We thought we were still in negotiations with them'

Fair Board: ‘We thought we were still in negotiations with them'

By Marisela Burgos - bio | email
Posted by Charles Gazaway - email

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Since 1997, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom has welcomed tourists from Kentuckiana and around the country for family fun at the park. After 13 years of service under the Six Flags umbrella, park officials released a statement late Thursday that it will shut down because it could not come to an agreement with the Kentucky State Board on its lease.

In 2009, Six Flags filed bankruptcy. Its Kentucky Kingdom location at the Kentucky Exposition Center was involved in the restructuring, which included the lease negotiations that fell through Thursday.

In a statement announcing the closing, Kentucky Kingdom spokesperson Carolyn McLean said:

"In recent weeks, Six Flags had proposed a new lease arrangement to the fair board that would have enhanced the viability and future of the park."

McLean said the future of the park included expanding the water park. The statement from Kentucky Kingdom continued to read:

"Unfortunately, those proposals were not accepted and the park will cease operations....."

The Kentucky State Fair Board claims it was surprised by the park's abrupt decision to close. In a statement, KSFB spokeswoman Vicki Glass said:

"They sent a proposal to the Fair Board and we have been working on a response. We thought we were still in negotiations with them."

Harold Workman, President & CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board, says they approached park officials in January in reference to the negotiations. In a statement, Workman said they wanted to extend the park's deadline to make a decision about the lease. According to Workman, a court gave Kentucky Kingdom until Jan. 9 to decide to either reject or accept the lease. The statement said that bankruptcy court approved the extension of the park's deadline to April 9.

"The intention was for the parties to renegotiate the lease terms during that period," Workman said in the statement.

On Feb. 4, park officials announced they were rejecting the lease.

The announcement of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom's closure comes as a surprise to many people, including Julie Stieren who visited the park with her grandchildren.

"We just have a good time," Stieren said. "It's a good family place. It's small enough, you know, to feel safe with your children and grandchildren, yet there's a lot of things to do."

The last time Stieren went to Kentucky Kingdom was in the summer of 2009. It crushed her to hear Kentucky Kingdom is closing its doors.

"We hate to hear that 'cause we usually have season tickets there. So the kids will miss that," said Stieren.

According to Chris Poynter, a spokesperson for Mayor Jerry Abramson, the mayor spoke with park officials and members of the board two days ago.

"We're very hopeful that a new lease can be reached and that we will not lose Kentucky Kingdom and we will not lose those jobs in this city," Poynter said.

Late Thursday evening, Gov. Steve Beshear issued a statement about the park's announcement, saying he hopes the park and Fair Board will come to an agreement so the jobs can be saved.

At this time it is unclear exactly how many employees could be affected, but park officials have said employees - as well as the park's rides and attractions, will be relocated to the 13 Six Flags parks.

Season pass holders for 2010 should be receiving notifications letting them know they can get a full refund or use their passes at other Six Flag locations. The closest parks to Louisville are in Saint Louis, Georgia, and Chicago.

In 1987, Kentucky Kingdom opened as a small amusement park. The owner filed bankruptcy and closed later that year. In 1990, it reopened under new ownership. It was sold to Premier Parks and renamed Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in 1997.

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