Koch family approved to take over Kentucky Kingdom

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- "A wonderful partnership that we are super excited about." That was Holiday World President Dan Koch's reaction to the Kentucky State Fair Board's decision to allow the family behind the successful Holiday World amusement park to take over Kentucky Kingdom.

The State Fair Board made that decision in a vote Thursday afternoon.

Koch says the park will be renamed Bluegrass Boardwalk and will be considered a "sister park" to Holiday World. He also promised it would open in May of 2013. "We're going to bring to Louisville the culture and guest experience" people have at Holiday World, he said. "We bring with us a core value of understanding families," he added.

Koch says the park will bring 800 seasonal jobs and a number of full-time jobs to the community. He also emphasized the hard work it will take to get the park ready for next year's opening, saying painters and carpenters have to get busy, and that workers are going to start work on the rides and make them safe.

Koch says, "We're going to make that park shine out there," and adds it will be something that Louisville "will be proud of."

For more on the impact the reopening will have on local businesses, click here.

The Koch family has already secured a website and a Facebook page under the Bluegrass Boardwalk name showing children's rides and scenes from a waterpark.

Koch family members have said they will apply for state tax incentives to help with financing, but won't ask lawmakers directly for money. Those incentives could include tax breaks to recover one-fourth of the Koch family's costs over ten years and allow a rebate of state sales taxes.

Earlier this week, Mayor Greg Fischer said as part of the deal the city won't receive a payroll tax, but he approves of that, saying, "Well, if that's what it takes to help them get it open, we do that for different deals from time to time that create jobs and help the community. So our goal is to keep this open and get people employed and get our community enjoying it."