originally posted on 1/14/2022
Photo: Adam Napotnik. View full-sized image.
The handwriting had been on the wall since the summer of 2021, but on January 4, 2022, the last sentence was written for Conneaut Lake Park’s Blue Streak. During the process of demolishing this classic wood coaster, fire from a controlled burn was spread by wind to the coaster track and loading platform. By the time this ACE News is posted, all the track, tunnel, loading platform and supporting structures for Blue Streak will likely be gone. It is an understatement to say that enthusiasts who have ridden this timeless out-and-back woodie are disheartened by its loss.
Photo: Michael Horwood. View full-sized image.
Photo: Ken Riling-Brewton. View full-sized image.
ACE News previously reported (September 10, 2021) the concerns of enthusiasts, preservation groups and local residents about the direction in which the park seemed to be headed. Not to recount the entire history of the sale of Conneaut Lake park (Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania) in March 2021 to Keldon Holdings LLC of Philadelphia, it should be noted that early reassurances from CEO Todd Joseph about operating Conneaut Lake Park at least partially as an amusement park gave way to fears in the spring as rides were destroyed or sold off and more emphasis was placed on using park property as an event space. After the Tumble Bug was scrapped and its cars offered for sale, anyone following park news could predict the fate of Blue Streak, which didn’t open in 2021 because Joseph said it needed a “structural evaluation.”
The outward run began with three wonderful steep drops.
Photo: Howard Gillooly. View full-sized image.
Photo: Richard Koppelman. View full-sized image.
Joseph had become increasingly uncommunicative because of growing criticism of his handling of park operations. He obtained a demolition permit for Blue Streak on January 4 and began demolition that day. He also had permits for controlled burns, which were meant to burn the coaster wood and thus speed the clean-up. It is not clear whether the fire spread to the coaster because the wind accelerated the controlled burn fires or because mechanical failure on the part of the heavy equipment used to demolish the coaster spread the fire to the loading platform. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire, and the nearby carousel was not damaged.
Photo: Sarah Windisch. View full-sized image.
Blue Streak opened at the park in 1938 and was one of two remaining wood coasters designed by Edward Vettel Sr. (Cyclone at Lakeside Park in Denver is now the only one.) Originally, it ran two Vettel trains, but in the mid-1960s the Vettel trains were replaced by two National Amusement Device (NAD) Century Flyer trains. One of the NAD trains was destroyed in the Beach Club fire of 2013, and although one of the Vettel trains was restored, it didn’t run in later years because of insurance restrictions. At least part of the restored Vettel train will be donated to a local history museum. The fate of the remaining NAD train is unknown.
Many ACEers had the joy of taking a ride on Blue Streak on the ride’s Vettel train.
Photo: Sarah Windisch. View full-sized image.
Throughout the years of Conneaut Lake Park’s financial difficulties and bankruptcy, ACE continued to support both the park and Blue Streak. In addition to donating more than $30,000 from the ACE Preservation Fund toward restoration of the coaster, ACE was instrumental in obtaining a $50,000 grant from Pepsi to spruce up the park. Already an ACE Coaster Classic, Blue Streak was awarded a Roller Coaster Landmark plaque during Coaster Con in 2010. Although the ACE plaque was noted to be missing from the front of the coaster in 2021, reports are that it is in safe hands. Conneaut Lake Park didn’t open in 2020 because of the pandemic and only opened in July 2021 for a short season.
Blue Streak was designated an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark in 2010. Seen here are ACE President Mark Cole, Preservation Director Howard Gillooly, Jack Moyers (former chairman of Conneaut Lake Park’s board of trustees) and historian Dave Hahner.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
This account of the fire and Blue Streak’s history at Conneaut Lake Park is a brief summary of what has happened since the sale of the park to Keldon Holdings, but it cannot begin to encompass the extent of loss felt by the ACE Western Pennsylvania region, coaster enthusiasts, preservationists and local residents. An amusement park that has operated since 1892 is all but gone; a classic 83-year-old coaster that was the heart of the park is gone. Memories are a cold comfort, but those are all that remain.
— Lee Ann Draud, ACE Publications Director
Photo: Richard Koppelman. View full-sized image.
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