Anyone who was lucky enough to visit the once largest amusement park in the world, Geauga Lake located in Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio will surely have a whole host of fond memories. We heard back at the end of June of plans to potentially rejuvenate the whole area.
In an interesting piece of news, Geauga Lake’s Double Loop Front Roller Coaster Train Car has just been sold at auction by Blazing Auctions. After 83 bids, the final price it was sold at was $6,100. A photo can be seen below.
Originally opened in 1887 and then put on the map with the introduction of the park’s first roller coaster, the Big Dipper in 1926, Geauga Lake went from strength to strength. The amusement park was joined on the shore by SeaWorld Ohio in 1970 then subsequently merged with it to become Six Flags Worlds of Wonder under the ownership of Six Flags.
Unfortunately, however, by 2004, park attendance was on the decline and the once 2.5 million visitors became closer to 700,000 which led to the amusement park being shut permanently in 2007.
For a full history of the Geauga Lake amusement park, check out our latest featured article, The Fascinating History of The Abandoned Geauga Lake Amusement Park.
According to cleveland.com it appears that Aurora city has plans to purchase and renovate the former site of Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio. Here is what we know so far.
On June 12, Mayor of Aurora, Ann Womer Benjamin presented a proposal to the council to acquire Geauga Lake as well as 40 acres of land on the lakefront which was once home to the former SeaWorld Ohio. The reason for the purchase is being given as, “It is the opportunity of a lifetime to guarantee our residents lake access and a destination that is going to be one of the gems of Northeast Ohio.”
The plan for the land is to develop it into a public park with a pool, beach, boating and other amenities which would really revitalise this whole area. It is even thought that the existing aquarium from the SeaWorld property could be turned into a restaurant.
It has been proposed that the city would purchase the land for $4.5 million (using $1.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, with the remainder of the money coming out of the city’s budget) from current owners Industrial Commercial Properties who would as part of the deal build a “Lake Loop” boardwalk around the lake.
If everything is successful with the acquisition of the former Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio site then remaining demolition work would commence and site work would be expected to begin within 12 months of this demolition work having been completed.
Initial concept art has been released but a lot of details have to still be finalised. The aim would be to keep this area as green space and as somewhere for the people of Aurora to have access to and enjoy rather than the land being developed for further housing or commercial shopping.
We will update you on further announcements regarding the exciting plans for the former site of the iconic Geauga Lake amusement park on our news and Facebook page. Let us know your thoughts by leaving us a comment below.
