Volume 3, No. 9. May 9, 2003
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from the brink
She misspoke. But
the words of Betty Tolbart, a member of Conneaut Lake Park Preservation Society,
aptly reflected her resolve: “We’re not going to go down fighting,
we’re going to go up fighting.”
It is a resolve that runs through the community surrounding the tiny amusement
park in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, that has battled closures, lawsuits, outdated
sewage systems, back taxes and mounting debt to try to stay alive—rather,
this year, to come back to life. Just a week ago, the park did not have the
cash to open as scheduled on Memorial Day weekend.
But last week local car dealer Jim Miller stepped forward with a $150,000 loan.
“It gives us the money to open up, pay the back bills, get the gate open,
get us the parts we needed and cover the insurance,” said Gene Rumsey,
Conneaut Lake Park’s general manager. The park’s lack of insurance
coverage meant volunteers could not help ready the park the past few weekends,
leaving the park scrambling to get ready in time and get the word out of its
revival. “We’ll be open,” Rumsey insisted. “We’ll have
maybe three rides that won’t be running, but unless something disastrous
happens, we’ll open.”
The loan still must be approved by Crawford County Judge Gordon R. Miller, who
is overseeing the park while its ownership remains in litigation. The hearing
is Tuesday. “Anything could go wrong,” Rumsey said of the hearing,
“but nobody expects anything to go wrong.”
That would virtually be a first for this 111-year-old park sitting on Pennsylvania’s
largest natural lake. Yet, even with the ongoing court battles and court-appointed
custodian Herbert Brill meeting dead end after dead end as he worked all winter
to raise cash to get the park open, the community seems to be rallying around
Conneaut Lake Park. And why not? Rumsey estimated the park is worth $20 million
to the local economy.
“The community is really, really interested, really getting involved this
year,” said Gloria Shea, a member of the local historical society and the
Friends of Conneaut Lake Park, a volunteer organization. “Last year we
had a ton of volunteers to run the rides because college kids had to go back
to school before Labor Day. It was amazing how many people we did get. It was
encouraging.”
She is hoping that momentum swings into this season, too. Several volunteers
have committed to working at the park the next two weeks prepping it for a season
opener Memorial Day weekend. The Friends will run a garage sale that weekend
in the park's convention center with all proceeds going toward the debt payoff.
Shea is counting on the typical Memorial Day weekend crowd giving the garage
sale a boost, and the garage sale itself enticing more people to visit the park
that first weekend. “We haven’t really advertised it yet, but we’re
already getting a lot of donations,” she said; so many donations of clothing,
furniture and other wares that she hopes to run monthly garage sales throughout
the season.
Other fundraising events are planned, such as concerts on the lawn, plant donations
for a memory garden, and large lollipops lining the kiddie land walkways that,
for a donation, will bear children’s names.
This winter the park gave up ownership of its sewer system to the Conneaut Lake
Area Joint Municipal Authority, which not only will renovate the system but
erased a $400,000 debt the park owed on past repairs. The new arrangement should
save the park about $60,000 a year, Brill estimated. And now that the park has
cash to open, Rumsey believes Conneaut Lake Park’s revenues will cover
operating costs for the season.
However, things looked rosy this time last year, too. Conneaut Lake Park and
its adjoining hotel still need significant capital upgrades, is handcuffed by
debt and still working through legal challenges. “It’s a finger in
the dike,” Shea said of the $150,000 loan. “We do have to move forward
and we have to get some grants and we have to stay open longer than we stay
open. I think (the park) has a wonderful future, but it’s going to take
a lot of people’s time to do it.”
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
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