Holiday World’s Koch Family Is Out Of Bluegrass Boardwalk In Louisville

After months of talks that the Koch family of Holiday World fame would take over the former Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville and reopen it as Bluegrass Boardwalk, it was announced today that the deal will now not happen.

WDRB TV is reporting that Bluegrass Boardwalk CEO, Natalie Koch released a statement today saying:

We entered into this discussion last October with full expectation of leasing the park," says Bluegrass Boardwalk CEO Natalie Koch in a news release.  Her family owns and operates Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana.  "However, we have come to the realization that leasing a park rather than owning it would take us too far from the business model my family has followed for more than 60 years.

Koch cited that many government regulations have halted the process, but she still hopes someone may reopen the park and wishes them well.

It's been a lifelong dream for my family to operate a second park," says Koch.  "It's hard to walk away from what we believed was a winning partnership for Kentucky and our team. But at the end of the day, the terms of the project did not fit our business model. It was time to withdraw.

After being closed 3 years ago, the former Six Flags was left in operating state, with rides not being winterized, causing major issues.  The state of the park was much worse than the proposed owners expected.

[WDRB TV]