The roller coaster ride is about to hit an end for Conneaut Lake Park.
Judge Jeffrey Deller has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 1 on the reorganization plan submitted by the park to remain in operation and pay its $3.8 million in debts through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Creditors have until Aug. 25 to respond to the park’s plan that was filed on July 31. The taxing authorities of Conneaut Lake School District, Crawford County and Sadsbury and Summit Township are expected to ask the judge to close the park and liquidate the assets. Conneaut Lake Park owes approximately $927,000 in property taxes.
The plan calls for the county, townships and school district to be paid in full within a year while other creditors would be paid in full over a 20-year period.
The park opened this summer under a $300,000 loan from the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County and the Northwest PA Regional Planning and Development Commission while Conneaut’s trustees worked on a bankruptcy plan. The plan includes revenue from a sale of lakefront property not used by the amusement park.
Conneaut Lake Park opened for its 123rd season on May 22 with operating days on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday plus Memorial Day and Labor Day with 11 operating rides plus 11 more in Kiddieland. The park is home to the Blue Streak, the sixth-oldest wooden roller coaster in the United States.