Tagged: Bluegrass Boardwalk

The amusement park Kentucky Kingdom has been closed for three years now, representing a significant loss of jobs and tourism revenue.  Attempts to revive the park have failed or been abandoned, and meanwhile the rides and equipment have largely been left to the elements and are not being maintained.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is pledging his support for Kentucky Kingdom days after Bluegrass Boardwalk Inc. announced it was pulling out of the project to re-open the old amusement park.

Last Friday, the Koch walked away from its deal with the state fair board despite approval of hefty tax incentives. Bluegrass Boardwwalk CEO Natalie Koch told WFPL that the board voted against the deal because the group’s business model wouldn’t fit well with state regulations and oversight.

Councilman David Tandy, D-4, is chairman of the labor and economic development committee. He says council members were surprised to learn the project had failed, but city and state leaders need to move forward.

"There are a number of different amusement park operators out there that I’m sure are wanting to take a look at this opportunity now that it has re-presented itself," he says. "And we’ll go forward from there."

Friday on Byline we took a broad look at a number of stories pertaining to the KFC Yum!

Bluegrass Boardwalk Incorporated announced Friday it would not reopen the former Kentucky Kingdom amusement park, which has been closed since 2009.

It's been a busy few months for the Kentucky Fair Board; most recently, the Arena Authority voted Monday to pursue new management for the YUM Center. The Courier-Journal's Marcus Green joined us on Friday's Byline to catch us up.

Later in the segment, Marcus was joined by the Indianapolis Star's Chris Sikich. Both reporters have covered the bridges project and they talked about the latest in bridge news.