Kennywood expansion info

http://www.kennywoodinsider.com/expansion.html


Kennywood's Future Expansion
Please remember this is a LONG TERM plan, which will take Kennywood through the year 2015.Also...In order for this "Blue Sky" wish list to go forth, two major hurdles must be cleared. First, they need to significantly reduce and or eliminate the taxes Kennywood has to pay to West Mifflin Township. The Township thinks of Kennywood and there diamond in the rough, or their golden goose. The taxes Kennywood pays right now makes up about 10 - 12% of the Townships entire annual budget. They should consider themselves lucky to have such a great institution in their community. If the park does expand, it will bring in more tourists to spend more money in the valley. Second, is the completion of the northern, and final portion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway (Toll 43). When completed the expressway will have an interchange within about 800 yards of the third level parking lot. This will make it much easier for out of towners to get to the park, because as us Pittsburghers know most of the time you can't get here from there. Estimated completion of the expressway is, best case, 2015, with construction to hopefully to begin in 2009-2010. As of right now the expressway runs from West Virginia to only about 7 miled south of the park, where it stops. The expressway will not only benefit Kennywood but will also spur much more economic development throughout the Mon Valley.
Here are a few facts that are included in the expansion plans...1. Kennywood now owns the 25 acre K-mart plaza above and to the right of the park.2. Kennywood has first dibs on the 20+ acres of brown field below the park in Duquesne. 3. Kennywood officials do not yet know how they want to use the new valley, either to add flat rides, food outlets, and other things or to just use it to drop coasters into.4. The old K-mart plaza will most likely become a Hotel with an Indoor Water Park.5. The vertical drop of the valley is about 110 feet from Kennywood to the bottem of the valley.6. In the picture below you will notice a large steel building on the brown field acreage, park officials are looking into keeping that building and using it for an indoor ride or maybe to drop a coaster through. The building is a bit larger than a football field but it isn't in the best shape and will need some work, but that would be cool if they can utilize it in the way they are talking.7. Kennywood officials have said they would like two new coasters one steel one wood. 8. Currently Kennywood has hired the design firm of Bruce D. Robinson Architecture-Design, Inc. to do some designs of what the valley area could look like, along with devising ways to get people down into the 110 foot valley. Robinson is the same firm that designed Lost Kennywood.Please remember these plans are not set and many things can and will change between now and the completion of the project.