By Kert Mitchell
The summer sun reflects harshly off the cool, blue water. Gentle waves are rolling in, and the balmy air tenderly caresses the dozens of people playing in the surf. Suddenly, the discordant blaring of warning sirens breaks the serenity; a tidal wave is coming in! I whip around, searching the sea of bodies and growing tidal swells for my little sister. She’s a decent swimmer, but the flailing bodies and surging waves could quickly overwhelm her. I find her nearby, in one of the many sun-colored inner tubes, giggling carelessly. She waves at me happily, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming tsunami.
Sound familiar? If not, then you’ve probably never been to Splashwater Kingdom at Kentucky Kingdom. At age 14, Kentucky Kingdom was used as a babysitter for me and my sister. Our parents would buy us season passes every Christmas, and once summer vacation rolled around they would drop us off for the day. They would give us each about $10 so we could buy lunch, and we’d spend five or six hours traipsing around the park. We’d ride The Vampire, Tin Lizzies, The Enterprise, Starchaser, or any of the dozens of other rides at Kentucky Kingdom until we’d had our fill. Then we’d do it all again.
Over 10 years later, Six Flags dropped a bomb. First they declared bankruptcy on June 13, 2009. On Feb. 4, the president and CEO of Six Flags, Mark Shapiro, announced that the park would be closing. Six Flags decided not to renew their lease with the Fair Board. It had never occurred to me that this bastion of childhood merriment could one day be on the chopping block.
Feeling, as many of us likely do, a personal connection to the park, I decided to research the matter. I had to sift through a lot of irrelevant garbage. Most of the news I read regarding Kentucky Kingdom would only speak semi-casually about the park’s closing, focusing instead on the story of the 13-year-old girl whose feet were amputated in 2007. After what seemed like hours of Internet and newspaper sifting, I finally found a few more details about the closing.
According to Fair Board President Harold Workman, “What we received was about a four-line E-mail which said ‘We want rent-free and if we make any profit we will share that with you.'” The Fair Board’s lead counsel went back and told Six Flags that they needed a formal proposal, instead of the E-mail that was received. Six Flags never submitted that proposal. It seems like Six Flags has dropped the ball.
So where does the issue with Kentucky Kingdom stand now? The Fair Board has extended Six Flags’ lease until April, and is trying to negotiate a new lease. If that fails, Kentucky Kingdom will relocate their 55 full-time employees and more than 40 of their rides, leaving over 1,000 summer employees looking for alternate employment.
It’s not entirely hopeless though. Mayor Jerry Abramson has declared he will try and find a new owner to take over Splashwater Kingdom and the remaining rides. The local radio station, WFPL, has stated that four potential buyers have already approached the Fair Board, proposals in hand. Although details are scarce regarding the future of Kentucky Kingdom, it seems that not all hope for saving this Kentuckiana icon is lost.
Kert is a sophomore undecided major. E-mail him at opinion@louisvillecardinal.com
