Tagged: Bluegrass Boardwalk

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.

After nine months of planning, Bluegrass Boardwalk, Inc. has withdrawn its proposal to re-open the Kentucky Kindgom theme park. 

According to a release, Bluegrass Boardwalk owners the Koch family—who also own Holiday World in southern Indiana—say leasing the park from the state would not fit in their business model. Further, CEO Natalie Koch cites "the many layers of governmental regulations and stipulations" as a reason for withdrawing. 

The announcement comes shortly after the company pushed back the planned re-opening to 2014, and days after the state approved up to $3.9 million in tax incentives for the project. The park closed in 2009 when previous owner Six Flags went bankrupt. This is the second failed attempt to re-open the park since. Businessman Ed Hart, who owned Kentucky Kingdom before it was purchased by Six Flags, was in talks with the state shortly after the park closed. 

The Kentucky Tourism Cabinet has approved tax incentives for the re-opening of the Kentucky Kingdom theme park.

The Bluegrass Boardwalk group has been granted preliminary approval for state tax incentives this week, bringing the amusement park one step closer to opening.

The group is owned by Indiana’s Koch family, which also operates Holiday World in Indiana. The Kentucky State Fair Board agreed to lease the former Kentucky Kingdom property to the Koch’s earlier this year.