After years of speculating, Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville is coming back to life. The amusement park will reopen next spring as Bluegrass Boardwalk. The tentative opening date is exactly one year from now--May 11, 2013. Bluegrass Boardwalk will be owned by the Koch family, the current owners of Holiday World in Indiana. President Dan Koch says incentives and financing are in place and he's confident of the park's reopening next spring.
At this point, it's unclear which rides will be back.
"I can't speculate what we'll have open because we haven't broken down all the rides and slides to take a look at it. And candidly, some are just gonna be beyond the repair standards of Holiday World," said Koch.
Bluegrass Boardwalk plans to invest between $15 and $20 million to reopen the park. The attraction will employ 25 full-time staff and 800 seasonal. Like Holiday World, Koch says Bluegrass Boardwalk will offer free soft drinks, sunscreen, and use of inner tubes.
