The Skyliner roller coaster is seen from above at Lakemont Park. It will be one of several attractions closed when the park opens for the season later this year. Mirror photos by Patrick Waksmunski

Lakemont Park Timeline Compiled by the Blair County Historical Society 1754-2022 (1)

The company that runs Lakemont Park under a long-term lease from Blair County won’t operate any rides there this season because it has become financially unsustainable, according to Lakemont Partnership President Andrea Cohen.

The partnership will continue to offer access to the four batting cages, four basketball courts, two volleyball courts, two mini-golf courses and 10 pavilions — in keeping with its transition several years ago from classic amusement park with lots of rides to a facility primarily for active recreation, Cohen told the county commissioners Thursday.

With declining attendance and high insurance costs, the park is losing money overall, although the partnership hopes to reverse that by attracting more patrons to those recreational facilities; booking more events like music festivals, craft and car shows and fundraising walks; and especially by working with businesses and community organizations on creative new proposals, Cohen said.

In the past, Cohen has considered using the park as a campground, and it’s conceivable it could serve at some point as the site for an indoor sports complex, even something that would require conversion to a nonprofit operation, Cohen said.

“We welcome the opportunity to discuss new business ventures,” she told the commissioners.

Such proposals would need to be taken to the commissioners, according to Cohen.

The partnership has recently hired a new park manager, whose charge will be to work with local businesses and organizations to bring events, Cohen said.

Especially problematic for the partnership in recent times has been the maintenance costs for the two wooden roller coasters — the Leap-The-Dips, which had been the world’s oldest operating coaster, and the Skyliner, Cohen said.

There needs to be discussions about what will happen to those rides — especially the 122-year-old Leap-The-Dips, according to Cohen.

Based on the county lease, which expires in 2066, the partnership is obligated to maintain and protect the Leap-The-Dips, a National Historic Landmark, said county solicitor Nathan Karn.

“They can’t let it fall down,” Karn said.

Under the lease, the county has the “right of first refusal” for the Skyliner and the miniature — but rideable — passenger train, should the partnership decide to sell those, Karn said.

Technically, the right of first refusal also applies to the Leap-The-Dips, according to Karn.

Other rides still at the park that won’t operate this summer are the Tin Lizzies, the go-carts, the Little Leaper and the 4x4s, Cohen said.

This season, the park will not host an Independence Day fireworks show, unless a sponsor steps forward to help with the $8,000-$10,000 cost, according to Cohen.

It will, however, continue to host the Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission’s men’s summer basketball league, along with school picnics and camps — and will continue to offer the Holiday Lights on the Lake, according to Cohen.

The commissioners didn’t comment on Cohen’s presentation until questioned afterward by the Mirror.

They seemed to take Cohen’s news with equanimity.

They appreciate that the partnership is “keeping (the park) running,” said Commissioner Laura Burke.

It’s encouraging that the recreational facilities and the Lights on the Lake will continue, said Chairman Dave Kessling.

The partnership is dealing with rising costs and other economic issues that bedevil many organizations nowadays, Kessling said.

Over the years, the park has changed as public tastes change, and the current situation reflects that, according to Commissioner Amy Webster.

“I think they’re adjusting to the times,” Kessling said.

“The park is taking prudent measures to continue operating,” Webster said.

The county is open to Cohen’s call for help from the community — for “collaboration and ideas,” Burke said.

Still, it behooves the commissioners to “reflect on it and think about (the situation),” Burke said.

Even if the commissioners wanted to pressure the partnership into changing its strategy for the park, it’s not certain they have much leverage, according to officials.

Given that the partnership continues to operate the venue as a park that is available to residents to stroll around during hours when it’s open, the partnership would seem to be working within the lease, according to Karn.

Whether a commissioners’ group in the future could legally break that lease to wrest control of the park from the partnership depends on the legal nature of the agreement, according to Karn.

If the lease is reflective of a “governmental function,” a commissioners’ group could break it, based on a prohibition against governmental bodies binding their successors to contracts related to those kinds of functions, Karn said.

If the lease is reflective of a “proprietary function,” one that the government is not required to perform, or that could be carried out by a private entity or that was entered into in order to raise money, the county is “stuck with the lease,” Karn said.

He has not taken a position on which type of lease the county and the partnership have negotiated, Karn stressed.

Karn provided an example of a governmental function: the provision of phone service to prison inmates.

Because providing such a service is a government function, the contract that undergirds it is subject to change every time a new commissioners’ board is elected — even if the board consists of the same individual commissioners, Karn said.

Because of that, Karn puts the vendor that provides the service on alert following board reorganizations, he said.

There are seasonal staff positions at the park in operations, grounds, special events and in the organization of Holiday Lights on the Lake, according to Cohen.

Applications are available at lakemontparkfun.com or by emailing info@lakemontparkfun.com.

The park is open from mid-April until Labor Day.

The season is broken into three periods, each with a different schedule: mid-April through early June; June through most of August; and after school begins.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.