Potential Buyers Emerge For Indiana Beach Amusement Park
MONTICELLO – Indiana Beach is up for sale, and area officials in Monticello are hoping to find a new buyer.
White County and the city of Monticello will assist Apex Parks Group, a California-based company that has owned Indiana Beach since 2015, in meeting with amusement industry leaders, brokers and investors in hopes of finding a buyer for the park, Monticello Mayor Cathy Gross said Friday.
White County Commissioner John Heimlich said he wanted the public to know that discussions about the future of Indiana Beach were ongoing.
“We want to see the Beach continue to operate, and Apex would like to see that, too,” Heimlich said. “We’ll just have to see what happens.”
The 94-year-old park along the shores of Lake Shafer closed abruptly Tuesday, a few months before it was supposed to open for the 2020 season, a move that shocked residents and local officials.
In a statement Friday, Gary Fawks, general manager of Indiana Beach said, “Since purchasing the resort in 2015, we have invested in infrastructure, rides and maintenance at the well-loved park. Despite these efforts, we have not seen an improvement in operating results. The decision to cease operations was not taken lightly.”
Randy Mitchell, White County economic development director, said Gregg Borman, senior vice president of operations with Apex, told him the company was closing Indiana Beach because of financial reasons.
Apex also shut down SpeedZone in Texas and Fantasy Island in New York, according to media reports.
Mitchell said the economic development office was working on keeping Indiana Beach going and was in the process of trying to find an investor or partner who would be interested in taking over the park’s operations.
On Friday, Mitchell said he didn’t have any information on if or when rides would be disassembled, although he was previously informed that Apex would be disassembling rides in the spring.
The park’s website was updated to notify guests it is permanently closed, with a link to a questionnaire regarding accommodations and camping, groups and birthdays and season passes.
As of Friday, Apex and Indiana Beach had not confirmed whether guests who had purchased season passes, which were on sale as recently as Christmas, would receive refunds.
A Facebook post from Fun Spot America, a group of theme parks based in Florida and Georgia, hinted interest in Indiana Beach, responding to a comment that a Fun Spot executive was on a plane Thursday to Indianapolis.
John Chidester, vice president of marketing for Fun Spot America, acknowledged the Facebook post but said he was not able to confirm any news connecting Fun Spot and Indiana Beach.
Another interested potential buyer is Ronald Gerstorff, the owner of Slick Track, a go-kart business out of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Gerstoff told the Journal & Courier he was “blown away” after hearing the initial news of Indiana Beach’s closure, as he had been trying to get in touch with Apex a little over a year before the park closed, interested in purchasing it and taking over operations.
“If they shoot me an offer, I would purchase it right now,” Gerstoff said.
A petition was created by a Monticello resident to “Help save Indiana Beach,” to encourage a buyer to purchase the park. As of Friday, it had gathered more than 29,000 signatures.
The park sits along the shores of Lake Shafer, one of the Twin Lakes in Monticello, offering an unobstructed view of the lake from park property.
For nearly 100 years, Monticello has grown around Indiana Beach. The amusement park, best known for its slogan, “There’s more than corn in Indiana,” was an iconic institution for the small town, offering an attraction for both in-state and out-of-state tourists and a chance to put Monticello on the map.
Source: jconline.com