Our region was honored to receive second place in the regional website category at Coaster Con XXXIII. We'd also like to congratulate ACE Southeast for 1st place and Western PA for 3rd place! Click "Read More..." for a closer picture of the award and don't forget to follow @MidwestACE on Twitter for updates all this week about Con.

ACE mourns the loss today of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari Owner, Will Koch.  He passed away Sunday evening due to diabetes complications.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the Koch Family, Holiday World and its employees.

Paul Blick,
ACE Midwest Regional Representative

Source: WFPL 89.3 FM

A former operator of Kentucky Kingdom has been selected as a potential new operator of the park. Six Flags announced earlier this year it would close the park, and the Kentucky State Fair Board has been looking for a new operator since then.

Board President Harold Workman says out of two proposals submitted to run the park, they’ve decided to move forward with a proposal from Ed Hart and his KK Redevelopment Company. Workman says he was happy to get a proposal from a local firm.

“He knows a lot of people in the community, a lot of people know him,” says Workman. “Obviously, he has proven to be successful in the past and I think he’ll work extra hard to be successful with this venture, if we can get all the contract negotiated and so on. I think local ownership is very, very important.”

Hart purchased Kentucky Kingdom in 1988 in a bankruptcy sale, and operated the park until 1997, when he sold it to Premier Parks. During that time, the park grew from ten acres to sixty and increased its annual attendance from 100-thousand to over one-million.

Today, the fair board approved a 60-day timetable to negotiate a contract with Hart’s company.