Geauga Lake auction: 'Big Dipper' sold, new owner unknown

BAINBRIDGE -- The gavel came down Tuesday and The Big Dipper, Geauga Lake amusement park's centerpiece roller coaster, went for $5,000 to Apex Western Machinery Movers of Akron.

But the story doesn't end there. Apex's Tom Woosnam said he was bidding for a buyer whose name he would not disclose.

"We move machines, we don't buy them. The buyer intends to move the coaster. It will be re-erected but not as a ride, but as a nostalgia piece," Woosnam said.

He said he could divulge the buyer's name "in about a week."

Sources familiar with media outlets in Kansas City say they suspect The Big Dipper will be moved there but could not confirm a specific location.

The sale of The Big Dipper needed approval from Geauga Lake owner Cedar Fair Entertainment, something Woosnam said he received before he left the park Tuesday.

Ironically, The Big Dipper was item number 43 on the auction list and that number came up at the stroke of noon Tuesday.

"High noon, if you ask me." one spectator said.

Geauga Lake is located on Aurora Road, that's state Route 43 in Bainbridge. Tuesday's auction was for rides and ride-related items.

At 10:30 a.m. today (June 18), the auction continues for campground items, coolers and other park equipment.

Woosnam also bought the Raging Wolf Bobs roller coaster for $2,500 for the same undisclosed buyer.

Before more on The Big Dipper, know that the first item auctioned was the main plaza fountain, just inside Geauga Lake's main gate. It went for $400 just after the auction began at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The 1974 Itamin space tower, known at Geauga Lake as the Skyscraper, went for scrap for $12,500. The auctioneer said scrap is going for 3 cents a pound right now.

No one knew how much the space tower weighed.

The water slide ride, left behind when Geauga Lake opened its water park across the lake, went for $47,500, a world record, according to Norton Auctioneers President David Norton.

Schlitterbahn Waterparks, of New Braunfels, Texas, bought the two ferry boats, the "Aurora Bele" and the "Cuyahoga Queen," that sat on Geauga Lake, the 120-foot-long "Shark Encounter" shark tank and the entire contents of the Iwerks 4-D movie theater.

The family-owned and operated Schlitterbahn parks will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2009.

The Arrow roller coaster was sold for scrap for about $35,000 and the Villain was sold for scrap for about $25,000.

Norton also addressed the crowd at the very start of the auction.

"We are witnessing the end of an era," Norton said, just before he began the auction.

"Anything that is not tagged is being moved to another Cedar Fair park," Norton addded.

The Americana ferris wheel and the landmark carousel were not tagged.

Cedar Fair Entertainment owns Geauga Lake, as well as Cedar Point in Sandusky, along with dozens of other amusement and water parks across North America.

Geauga Lake was established in 1888 and has existed under various names and with varying degrees of rides and attractions for 119 years.

Cedar Fair closed Geauga Lake's amusement park Sept. 16, citing poor attendance. Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom water park, across Geauga Lake from the amusement park, is still operating and opened May 24.

On May 23, four developers submitted sealed bids to Cedar Fair, bids to re-develop the 600-acre amusement park for possible mixed-use retail/residential.

Now for more on The Big Dipper.

The historic roller coaster was designed and built by John A. Miller, world-renowned for his roller coasters.

It was one of the few remaining wooden roller coasters left in the world.

American Coaster Enthusiasts, a group dedicated to riding and celebrating roller coasters, had hoped that The Big Dipper would become the centerpiece of any re-development of the 600-acre park, either next to a mall-like development or as part of a residential development.

Just before the 1926 roller coaster was auctioned off, Norton told the crowd that Cedar Fair had offered the American Coaster Enthusiasts the ride.

"That's false," a voice from the crowd piped up. The voice belonged to Russell Township resident Carole Sanderson, an ACE past-president and CFO of Herschman Architects in Cleveland.

"Get that woman out of here. Security, remove her from the park," Norton shouted back.

She was not removed and the auction went forward.

"It's a shame," Sanderson said afterwards. "(ACE) has never been offered the ride. Norton may be saying that but it's not true."

Norton Auctioneers Vice President Denise Kinsey said Cedar Fair told Norton about the alleged offer to ACE. Kinsey said Norton Auctioneers was only saying what it had been told.

ACE Historian and past president Richard Munch, who lives in Geauga County, was also at Geauga Lake Tuesday.

Both he and Sanderson said they are going to set up a meeting with U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge, to see if they can sit down with him and try and save The Big Dipper.

Sanderson and Munch both skipped the ACE annual meeting that is going on this week in Atlanta to be here for the auction.

ACE officials in Atlanta have told Channel 3 News that no one from Cedar Fair or Norton ever contacted ACE with a firm offer for The Big Dipper.