It’s been 18 months since we last heard anything regarding the fate of Lakemont Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania. In March of 2017 the park announced that it would be closing for renovations with plans on opening the following May. Today they announced that the new version of Lakemont Park will open on Memorial Day weekend 2019. Here is what the park had to say to news station WTAJ of Central Pennsylvania:
“We feel we’re going back to the roots of what Lakemont Park used to be when it was established almost 125 years ago,” said Andrea Cohen. “We’re going to be making it a place where the community will want to be.
Andrea Cohen, representing the Devorris family, co-owners of the park, said the new Lakemont Park will step away from theme park entertainment and instead will focus on outdoor recreation and special events.
The new design will offer two miniature golf courses, four new basketball courts, two sand volleyball courts, and state of the art go-carts.
“We have a lot of green space, we’ll have a lot of activities for families where they can pick what activities they want to do with their families. For example, we’ll have three open gates,” said Cohen.
It’ll be free to get into the park, but there will be a charge for golfing and to ride some of the old favorites.
“We’ll have roller coasters, we’ll have the Skyliner and the world’s oldest roller coaster, the Lead the Dips will still be there, we’ll have the Tin Lizzy’s,” said Cohen.
The water play area will also remain. Plans for the re-invented park, which by law, must remain a park for the community, gets the full endorsement of the Blair County Commissioners.
“I think they’ve taken a very innovative approach in the fact that they’re no longer going to be a competing amusement park. They’re going to look at different ways to make it a public park, a people-friendly park,” said Ted Beam, Blair County Commissioner.
The owners promise, when the new Lakemont Park opens, entry will be free and there will be something for everyone to enjoy.
A map of the new park layout
While some rides were lost in this renovation process, I’m glad to see the park trying to make a comeback and in a new way. Hopefully the new format of the park will drive the additional guests they need, appealing to everyone, not just those looking for a day at an amusement park. I am also thrilled that the world’s oldest operating roller coaster, Leap-the-Dips will still be running!
Have you been to Lakemont Park? What are your thoughts on these changes to the park?
This sounds like a very thoughtful reopening of the park. The style of the park seems like a great idea and one that I have wondered if it would work at a small scale like this. I hope the best for the park and I am very interested in seeing how it goes.