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Park News - (6/13/09) You can find a video shot on the opening weekend of Conneaut Lake here.
  (6/12/09) According to a reader the follwing rides are now up and running at Conneaut Lake Park: Sky Diver, Tilt-A-Whirl, Paratrooper, Flying Skooters, Tumble Bug, The Bumper Cars, The Carousel, The Devils Den, The Witches Stew, Trabant, and all the rides in Kiddieland. I’ve been told to expect the Rolo Planes and Round Up to reopen soon as well. Meanwhile the train should be open before the end of the month and we can expect to hear good news about the Blue Streak very soon.
  (5/16/09) The latest news story for Conneaut Lake reports that a $200,000 bid to purchase $900,000 of the park’s debt was rejected.
  (5/2/09) The Lisko brothers talk to the local news about the challenge ahead in rebuilding Conneaut Lake Park’s reputation as well as brining the park back to life. For this year they are focusing on opening the park up from the front gate down to Comstock Street and Kiddieland. The concession stands and midway game buildings will not be ready to reopen by this season, so they will bring in trailer versions of both to make up for it this season.
  (4/27/09) Conneaut Lake Park has removed the park’s old Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel and will replace it with a new 60 foot tall wheel. It seems the old wheel had suffered too much damage. I’ve also been told that two new more thrilling rides will be added this season too, one going into the old Yo-Yo location and the other across the midway. In addition, a number of new kiddie rides will also be added. Special thanks to “Ken Jones” for the information.
  (4/18/09) Good news for Conneaut Lake, as the park has announced that with the help of an outside amusement vendor, the rides, games and concession stands will be leased and reopened this summer, bringing the park back to life! They were quick to remind everyone that the Blue Streak will remain closed unfortunately, until at least the end of the 2010 season due to all work needed to get it up and running again. Conneaut Lake park can also use your help as they invite the public to come in and help Spruce Up The Park in late April and early May.
  On the odd side of things, the same group that purchased $125,000 of the parks debt last December has come forward again to purchase $600,000 of the park’s debt. Where they plan on taking things from here is anyone’s guess.
  (2/25/09) Good news for Conneaut Lake Park as the official website has now announced that the park will be open for the 2009 season and that they are working with ride vendors to get things operational once again. However they warn that the Blue Streak wooden coaster may not be able to be repaired and put back into operation until the 2010 season.
  (2/18/09) A new website has launched to showcase Conneaut Lake for potential future developers in an effort to breathe new life into the site.
  (1/5/09) According to this article the group that purchased the Conneaut Lake debt is there to help the park and not hurt it, according to a statement from Capital Finance. “Our intent is in historic preservation of the park”.
  (12/31/08) Bad news for Conneaut Lake Park just as they were poised for a possible comeback in 2009. According to this article a company has put in a bid of $200,000 to the township to purchase the $152,000 debt the park owes. It’s expected that First Capital Finance may attempt to foreclosure, which would end up putting the resort and amusement park up at a Sheriff’s sale.
  (12/5/08) According to this news article the proposed Debt Sale at Conneaut Lake Park could hurt the current efforts to preserve and reopen the park, forcing them to sell more assets and even allowing the purchaser to even demolish the entire area to build whatever they see fit on it if they choose to foreclose on it.
  (12/2/08) In a odd news item the local township has announced that they are looking to sell off the lien they have on Conneaut Lake Park for unpaid taxes from 1996-1997 for a little over $150k as a minimum bid. I’m not sure what kind of impact, if any, this might have on the redevelopment efforts to bring the park back to life.
  (11/24/08) The man on trial for setting fire to Conneaut Lake Park pleaded guilty to arson and has been sentenced to pay nearly $2 million and to serve jail time between 3 to 20 years.
  (11/20/08) After a successful Halloween themed event last month, Conneaut Lake is hoping to repeat that success by launching a new drive-thru winter holiday lights attraction that will run on select nights from November 28th to January 4th, 2009. Visit the official website for more information. At this rate, hopefully it wont be much longer before we can remove that “Closed” sign on the park itself up above.
  (11/5/08) According to this news report Ghost Lake and the rest of the Halloween events at Conneaut Lake were very good to the park. They estimate that up to 20,000 people came to Ghost Lake over the 15 day run, with a portion of the funds going to the park itself. Mid America Events has already committed to putting on Ghost Lake again in 2009 due to the success of the event and hopes to expand it.
  (10/23/08) I’ve been sent a few updates about Ghost Lake at Conneaut Lake this week. The Clown Town haunt has been expanded with a new indoor Clown Town Cave section, and The Fog was also upgraded with many new props and lower light levels.
  As for the park itself, I’ve been told that Lisko & Sons Carnival Company, the group behind the rides at Ghost Lake, are in talks with the board to possibly lease and run the park’s own rides in the future. If the deal goes through they will remove many of the rides for the winter to rehab them in the hopes of reopening the rides area next season. There is also a plan to try and get Blue Streak running again as well. Thanks to Ken Jones for the info.
  (9/23/08) The Haunted Conneaut website has been updated, changing the line up of haunts for the year to: Devil's Gauntlet, Maze of Madness, The Butchers Basement, The Fog, Clown Town and The Haunted Hotel.
  (9/1/08) Good news for Conneaut Lake Park fans as the Hotel Conneaut has now officially reopened for business on weekends through to the end of October. The Beach Club and Camperland are also open it seems if you take a look at the official website. I’ve also been told that the park will host a brand new Halloween haunt attraction this October called Ghost Lake at Haunted Conneaut that will feature six haunted attractions featuring: The “Not” So Fun House, Midway of Madness, The Fog, Clown Town, Monster Walk Though The Park in The Dark and a trip through the actual Haunted Hotel Conneaut which has a strange history of actually being haunted after it was struck by lightning, trapping a bride and groom inside. The Groom was said to have survived by escaping from the hotel while the bride perished inside, refusing to leave until she could find her husband.
  (8/30/08) 20 year-old Nick Pope pleaded guilty earlier this week to Arson charges for setting fire to Conneaut Lake Park as well as a nearby Church earlier this year.
  (8/15/08) Things are starting to look up over at Conneaut Lake. According to an e-mail sent in the Beach Club and Original Fry stand both reopened last weekend. From what our reader was told they thought they were scheduled to get their liquor license back before the end of this week. It also appeared as if work had started on getting the Hotel Conneaut ready to reopen as well, with the plan being to open it in time for the Pumpkin Fest (October 10-12th). There is also still talk about running a Haunted event as well at some point this fall that could include the old Train and Devil’s Den dark ride. Thanks to Ken Jones for the info.
  (8/2/08) Some good news has finally come out regarding the fate of Conneaut Lake. According to local news reports four local businessmen (Greg Sutterlin, Dick Williams, Steve Popovich and Mark Popovich) have entered into a 49-year lease agreement to breathe new life into sections of the park as well as a 30-year lease on the Hotel Conneaut. Their plan will involve reopening the Beach Club bar and hotel and building a few new condo units. The plan is to also renovate the hotels in various phases and to hopefully build a new wing that will include an indoor pool. The lease agreements do not include the park’s rides however, so I’m not sure what is going to happen to them yet. It sounds like they are waiting for an outside operator to step forward to lease and run them under another new agreement. The article did mention that they would host a Haunted Park and Pumpkin Fest this fall.
  (7/28/08) According to the local news thieves have broken into The Hotel Conneaut at Conneaut Lake Park at least six times since the park was officially shut down in Spring 2007.