The sky is always blue at
Kennywood. That’s because it’s painted on the ceiling over the Grand Carousel, along with eternally puffy clouds and forever blooming flowers.
There has been a carousel at this amusement park just outside of Pittsburgh for 110 years. Through two world wars, the rise and fall of the steel industry, and several generations of Pittsburghers, the hand-carved horses just keep going around and around.
This month, for the first time in its history, the ownership of Kennywood has changed hands, going from the local Henninger clan to the Spanish corporation
Parques Reunidos. Kennywood Entertainment president Peter J. McAneny, who has run the park since 1994 and will remain its leader, is optimistic about the transition.
“They liked what they saw here and expect it to continue,” McAneny says of Parques Reunidos’ decision to buy the property. “They’re a family oriented company and Kennywood is a clean, friendly, well-landscaped regional draw.”
So, as the merry-go-round bell goes ding! ding! ding! calling riders aboard for a summer of fun, the endless happy day that is Kennywood promises to continue, at least for another season.
Kennywood PastThe very first riders came to Kennywood in 1898, arriving mainly by trolley. Imagine the women stepping down from the streetcar, long skirts
sweeping the ground, excited for a day away from the smoky city with their men all cleaned up and wearing straw hats.
Kennywood was started by the Monongahela Street Railway Company, which owned the trolley service and built the park as a way to get people to ride to the end of the line. According to Mary Lou Rosemeyer, the longtime spokesperson for Kennywood, visitors in those days would have found tennis and croquet courts, a shooting gallery, dance pavilion, ladies cottage and picnic grounds.
“The lagoon that you see today has been there since we opened,” she says, “and an original building from 1898 is a food stand now.” The structure which is currently the Parkside Café was once called the Kennywood Park Casino, and if you look closely you’ll see the ornate tin ceiling and egg and dart molding, although 1970s-era wood veneer now obscures the grandeur.
Kennywood has been designated as a
National Historic District because it is one of the few remaining urban trolley parks in the United States. Although the excited young kids and spunky teenagers who primarily populate Kennywood care more about how fast than how old, many of the park’s rides have a vintage cachet.
The famous wooden roller coaster, the Jack Rabbit, was built in 1921 and most Pittsburgh grandparents have a story or two about braving their first
ride. The current merry-go-round, with its bright electric lights, was added in 1926, although at the time the horses were stationary - along with the single painted lion and tiger.
Also from 1926 and still being used is the Wurlitzer Band Organ, which produces the haunting melodies that accompany each spin of the carousel. The old instrument’s simple, transporting sound seems to unlock the desire for enchantment that lives deep inside of everyone while the merry-go-round itself embodies that basic human need for movement, even if it’s just in circles.
The Racer roller coaster and the Turtle were added in 1927. Imagine what riders from that era would think of the 21st Century monster coaster Phantom’s Revenge, whose steel tracks and train-load of screaming passengers now glide right over the gently dipping Turtle. But it’s this melding of old with new that has helped Kennywood to thrive.
“Back in the 1950s and early 60s when Disney was introducing theme parks, many of the traditional amusement parks followed, Rosemeyer says, “but Kennywood’s management decided to stay mainly rides and games. We didn’t take out rides that had low seating capacity. Now we have rides that nobody else has,” she says. “That’s why we’re successful.”
Kennywood FutureThis success is measured by the million-plus Kennywood visitors a year as well as its many honors. For example, the
National Amusement Park Historical Association in 2008 named Kennywood the number one traditional park in the world, and the Coaster Club of Great Britain has
been to Kennywood more times than anywhere else.
Kennywood is also highly rated by
DAFE (Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts - pronounced Daffy), whose 300 members travel the world in search of their favorite haunted houses and walk-through attractions.
This year Kennywood’s Noah’s Ark, built in 1936 during the Great Depression, has taken one of the DAFE’s top honors for the sixth time in seven years. Probably everyone who grew up in Pittsburgh remembers stumbling through this pitch black rocking boat. A plaque at the boat’s base informs visitors that “hidden air jets used to blow up women’s skirts but slacks and shorts have made that obsolete.”
While Kennywood staff and patrons appreciate the park’s traditional status, the management does carefully eliminate tired rides and add new attractions that are hot on the market – even though the switches sometimes annoy longtime fans who are still grumbling about the demise of, say, Laff in the Dark, or that the Old Mill from 1901 is now the 3-D Garfield’s Nightmare (which uses the same boats).
This year’s new addition is Ghostwood Estates, which Rosemeyer describes as “a state-of-the-art dark ride.” The setting is the home and cemetery of Lord Kenneth Ghostwood, whose visitors board high-tech buggies to tour the haunted environs. While computer-generated ghosts, spiders and other fiends intimidate, riders can fight back by shooting them with laser blasters. Individual scores are even posted in each
vehicle. Replacing the Gold Rusher, Ghostwood Estates is perfect for the video game generation because it is both interactive and competitive.
Many of the video game generation also work at the park, which employs 1,500 people seasonally, many in high school and college. Rosemeyer says that Parques Reunidos was attracted to Kennywood because it is a lean and profitable organization.
Standing in his office in an old building smack dab in the middle of the constant carnival that is Kennywood, president McAneny says the Spanish company will not have its own management at the park and in fact does not have permanent staff in the United States. “They own 68 properties in the world and they like what they saw here,” he says. McAneny does not expect Kennywood to grow dramatically but neither does he expect it to shrink. The organization is advertising heavily in Maryland and Ohio, especially because of Geauga Lake closing. “Ohio has a great thrill park but it’s very expensive,” he says.
While the economy has to concern any business today, McAneny believes people will come to Kennywood and they will spend money on food, although he thinks the park’s retail operations may suffer. “Rain is more our enemy than gas prices,” he says.
Photographs copyright Brian Cohen