I apologize for the influx of Libertyland posts as of late, but this article really caught my attention:
“Green Bay will continue to negotiate with the owners of two wooden roller coasters in the hope of acquiring one for Bay Beach Amusement Park.
After a 40-minute closed session on the subject, the Park Committee voted unanimously Wednesday evening to direct staff to continue working to acquire one. The City Council still must approve the Park Committee recommendation. It meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Council Chambers of City Hall, 100 N. Jefferson St.
Mayor Jim Schmitt, who attended the closed session, said after the meeting that there’s a strong chance one of the owners would donate the ride to Green Bay. But he cautioned, “that isn’t the big expense. It’s the relocating, the engineering, the bringing it to code.” Even a donated roller coaster could cost “more than hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.
The expense would not go on the tax base, he said. Instead, the city will consider issuing revenue bonds, seeking private donations and establishing a higher ticket price for the ride to pay for it, he said.
The park generates hundreds of thousands of dollars in income each year, through ticket sales, concessions and other means. If only a third of the visitors to the park would ride the roller coaster at $1 a ride, it would make the ride affordable, and its presence could increase use of the park’s other attractions, Schmitt said.
Tickets for the 16 rides at the park are 25 and 50 cents, depending on the ride.
Schmitt said the city wants a historical, wooden roller coaster that, while not offering the corkscrew turns of the famed Demon of Great America, would still have “some thrills.” He said it likely would have 2,500 feet of track and be several stories tall.
A roller coaster was one of the recommendations when the city hired a consultant to upgrade the park last year.
Bay Beach last had a roller coaster in 1936.”
This is pure speculation on my part, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the two rollercoasters they were negotiating was the Zippin Pippin. It’s about 2800 feet long and several stories tall – while many wooden coasters fit that mold, it’s not that far of a stretch to say the Zippin Pippin might be looked at.
This seems like an excellent place for a classic such as the Zippin Pippin.
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