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Do you have a news item which should be presented in this space? If so, send your release (and a photo if available) pertaining to expansion, promotions or new business to webmaster@ledc.org for review. New Holiday World President/CEO NamedThe Board of Directors for Holiday World & Splashin' Safari has named Matt Eckert the park's new president and CEO. "Matt was hand-picked by my late husband, Will, to be in a leadership role at the park; I know he would be pleased with our choice," says park vice president Lori Koch. "As president and CEO, Matt will work closely with our board to keep our family's park flourishing." Eckert began his tenure with the park in 2000, when he was hired to be the park's controller; he served as one of the park's two general managers from 2007 to 2012. He is an International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions Certified Attractions Executive and has served on its Human Resources Committee. Eckert is a graduate of Indiana State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting and insurance. He is a certified public accountant. Holiday World, named the country's Top Value Park by Consumers Digest, will open for its 67th season on May 4. Splashin' Safari, ranked as the nation's #1 Water Park by TripAdvisor.com, begins its season on May 10. For more information, visit HolidayWorld.com or call 1-800-467-2682. Holiday World Plans Major UpgradesFollowing one of the hottest summers on record, Holiday World & Splashin' Safari are creating more ways for families to stay cool in 2013. That's according to park president Dan Koch, who says the investment of $6.5 million provides everything from a new water-slide complex to misters throughout both parks. "We're adding four new in-the-dark water slides in a complex called RhinoBlaster," says Koch. "The longest slide is 350 feet and includes a half-pipe element - similar to our Zinga water ride - for a really cool back-and-forth skate-boarding effect." Splashin' Safari will gain a second ride, as the Pilgrims Plunge shoot-the-chute ride becomes part of the water park and is renamed Giraffica. "We're not moving the ride, just the park boundary," says Koch. "Splashin' Safari's entrance will also be expanded and we're adding a new style of lockers. This is part of our ongoing effort to improve our guests' experience here at the park." Splashin' Safari is ranked as the nation's #1 water park by TripAdvisor.com, the world's largest travel website. In Holiday World, a classic teacup ride - Kitty's Tea Party - will be added to Holidog's FunTown,plus a larger high-dive pool, stage and seating area will replace the current theater. Additional projects for 2013 include:
Holiday World will be open October 27 and 28 for the final weekend of Happy Halloween Weekends. For more information, visit HolidayWorld.com or call 1-877-463-2645. Fertilizer Plant planned for Spencer CountyOhio Valley Resources LLC (OVR) filed an air permit application with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) on September 17,2012, to construct a new billion-dollar nitrogen fertilizer facility in Spencer County, IN. At the same time, OVR entered into technology licensing agreements with KBR of Houston, TX, to provide the essential ammonia process production units necessary for the proposed facility. The agreement with KBR also includes a front-end engineering design (FEED) package to develop a lump-sum turnkey engineer, procure, and construct (EPC) price for the project. Weatherly, Inc., of Atlanta, GA, will supply the design of its proprietary urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) plant on a subcontract to KBR as part of the overall project. OVR has retained Morley and Associates of Newburgh, IN, to assist with off-site utilities and related infrastructure. The new ammonia plant for OVR will be the first entirely new facility of its type to be constructed in America by a U.S.-based firm in more than a quarter-century. It will use the latest version of KBR's Purifier Process and therefore will consume less energy than ammonia plants currently operating in the United States. The project is made economically viable by a recent decrease in natural gas prices due to domestic shale gas development. It will feature state-of-the-art emission-control technologies that comply with current federal and state environmental regulations. As global demand for nitrogen fertilizer has increased, the U.S. has become one of the world's largest importers of this important commodity. This has resulted in America's farmers and food supply becoming more dependent on foreign sources of essential fertilizer products. According to data from the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 54 percent of the U.S. nitrogen supply, or approximately 10.79 million tons, was imported in 2011. According to Doug Wilson, President/CEO of Ohio Valley Resources, this project represents a major step forward in reviving domestic production of critical nitrogen fertilizer products to serve the Eastern Corn Belt. "Our goal is to restore jobs to the United States that have been lost for years by displacing imported sources of fertilizer products," Wilson said. "We are excited that our new plant will help to stabilize the supply and price of nitrogen fertilizers to support the regional agricultural economy." Tentative plans call for the nitrogen fertilizer plant to be located on approximately 150 acres in Spencer County north of Rockport. Its location will allow convenient rail and highway access, as well as the potential for river access. Other competing sites in Kentuckyare still being evaluated. The high-tech facility will produce approximately 2,420 tons per day of ammonia and 3,000 tons per day of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) solution for fertilizer. Some of the ammonia production will serve the local utility markets for NOx control (known as selective catalytic reduction units or SCRs), which reduces emissions in coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities. In addition, the plant will produce 300 tons per day of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), a urea solution used to reduce emissions in diesel engines. "Not only will our new plant play a key role in boosting domestic agricultural production, but it will also provide a reliable source of emissions-control products to support a cleaner environment," Wilson said. "This will all be done by American workers using domestic sources of low-cost natural gas." Approximately 1,200 workers will be needed to construct the plant over a three-year period. Upon its projected completion in 2016, the facility will provide approximately 80 full-time jobs. Source: Ohio Valley Resources LLC
Spencer County to Receive $500,000 CFF GrantLt. Gov. Becky Skillman announced that Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick Counties will each receive Community Focus Fund (CFF) grants for water projects in their communities. State Rep. Suzanne Crouch (R-Evansville) represents portions of each county, which will receive $500,000 for a water project, $497,000 for a wastewater project and $500,000 for a wastewater project, respectively. "I'm so pleased that our communities will be the recipients of these grants,"said Rep. Crouch. "These funds will be used for the benefit of all their residents. I look forward to seeing the improvements made with the use of these grants." These grants are part of the 16th round of CFF grants announced by Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, which are funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant program. Thirty-eight Hoosier communities will receive CFF grants, totaling over $16M in community investment. "The CFF program provides an opportunity for our rural areas to achieve goals they otherwise may not be able to," said Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman. "The fruition of the various projects will give each community a boost in a variety of ways from economic development to safety to infrastructure." The grants are administered by the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), which also provides technical assistance to community leaders during the 18-month implementation of their CFF projects. Lt. Gov. Skillman will host an awards ceremony at the Indiana Statehouse on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. to honor the grant recipients. Holiday World Receives Top RatingOne of the nations leading consumer magazines names Holiday World & Splashin' Safari the countrys Top Value Park in its latest issue. Consumers Digests July/August edition features a section titled Best-Value Amusement Parks. The article, which includes a photo of the new Mammoth water coaster, called Holiday Worlds roller coasters world class and listed the parks top bank for the buck perks as the free soft drinks program, free sunscreen, free parking, free Wi-Fi, and no extra charge for Splashin' Safari admission. Consumers Digests nation-wide circulation is just under 1.3 million. Meanwhile, Voyage was named the nation's "most insane" wooden roller coaster on the premiere of Travel Channels Insane Coaster Wars: Splintering Speedsters this week. The 1.2-mile Voyage had been pitted against Kings Islands iconic Beast, plus coasters at Dollywood and Six Flags in the half-hour show. The show airs again tonight at 10pm CT and Sunday at 8:30pm and 11:30pm CT. For more information about the parks, also named the #1 Water Park in the Nation by TripAdvisor.com, visit HolidayWorld.com or call 1-877-Go-Family. Source: Holiday World & Splashin' Safari
Holiday World Featured in New York TimesA Science Writer for the New York Times, Henry Fountain, visited Holiday World in early June to ride The Voyage, interview one of the ride's designers, and talk to roller coaster enthusiasts from all over the country who were visiting the park for its annual HoliWood Nights special event. Located in the parks Thanksgiving section, Voyage is 1.2 miles long and provides riders with a record 24.3 seconds of air time. This steel-structure wooden coaster, ranked the #1 Wooden Coaster in the World five years in a row by Amusement Today, includes a record five underground tunnels, a series of dramatic drops (including a 66-degree angle of descent on the first drop), three 90-degree banked turns, and multiple track crossovers. The online version of the Times' article features a four-minute video of The Voyage, including interviews with one of the coasters designers, Chad Miller of Cincinnatis The Gravity Group, plus Sister Michelle Sinkhorn of the Sisters of Saint Benedict in Ferdinand, Indiana. The New York Times print edition has a circulation of nearly one million; the online version receives an average of 240 million monthly page views. For more information about Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, visit www.holidayworld.com or call Rockport coal-gasification receives final air permitPlans for a $2.8 billion coal-to-gas plant in Rockport took another step forward as federal and state authorities gave their final thumbs-up to the air emissions permit its developers sought. It means developers are now closer to accomplishing two of the major conditions — environmental permits and a contract with Indiana to sell its synthetic natural gas — that they considered necessary to get a federal loan guarantee. That would come from the U.S. Department of Energy, and would cover much of the cost of building the plant and an accompanying pipeline to carry sequestered carbon dioxide from Rockport to the Gulf of Mexico for use in oil production. "We're using Ohio River water, Illinois Basin coal to yield substitute natural gas and oil, and of course the oil will then be made into gasoline and whatever the refiners decide to make it into," said Bill Rosenberg, an Indiana Gasification, LLC partner. The buyers will be Indiana's residential and commercial ratepayers, who will see Rockport's product — at an average price of $6.60 per million BTU — account for 17 percent of their bills over the next 30 years. Those terms were negotiated by the Indiana Finance Authority, which agreed to buy and then resell the plant's product to give it the guaranteed buyer it would need to secure financing. The process of developing the pipeline to carry carbon dioxide to oil fields to increase pressure and pump out more oil than would otherwise be possible is a complicated one that includes bills that developers are pushing in several state legislatures. Most of the pipeline — 428 of its 441 miles — would be built along the same routes as existing pipelines that carry natural gas and other products through the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy recently approved developers' request to amend the pipeline into its request for a loan guarantee, making it eligible to be included and also the subject of an environmental impact report that would be conducted on the full project. "It's a very strategic initiative on the part of the government to help us build this pipeline that takes what otherwise would be a waste product causing pollution problems and convert it into a product that can generate and produce more oil from our own fields," Rosenberg said. More Progress for Rockport PlantThe $2.6 billion coal-gasification plant developers hope to build in Rockport, Ind. took a step forward last week with the U.S. Department of Energy, which is considering whether to give the plant a federal loan guarantee. The Energy Department said it would include the 440-mile pipeline that developers hope to build from Rockport to the Gulf of Mexico, through which they'd pump sequestered carbon dioxide for use in oil production, in the environmental impact statement of the full project. It's an acknowledgment that the full project could qualify for a federal loan guarantee, and the developers, Leucadia National Corp. and Indiana Gasification LLC, heralded the move as a major advancement. "This is another significant step forward," said Bill Rosenberg, an Indiana Gasification partner. Koch family withdraws offer for Kentucky KingdomAfter nine months of planning to reopen the closed Six Flags and Kentucky Kingdom amusement park at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds at Louisville, the Koch family, which owns Holiday World and Splashin' Safari at Santa Claus, Ind., announced Friday it is abandoning the project. "We entered into this discussion last October with full expectation of leasing the park," Natalie Koch, chief executive officer of Bluegrass Boardwalk, Inc. — the company formed to manage the property — said in a news release. "However, we have come to the realization that leasing a park rather than owning it would take us too far from the business model my family has followed for more than 60 years." According to a Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet news release, Bluegrass Boardwalk had planned an investment of $15.6 million to reopen the park in 2014. The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority on Wednesday had approved a $3.9 million incentive package for Bluegrass Boardwalk, Inc. over 10 years. The last season of operation for the park was 2009, and Koch previously said rides did not receive needed winter maintenance. About 75 percent of the 27 amusement rides at the park need a complete overhaul. The former park also operated Splashwater Kingdom. The Kochs sought a 50-year lease, plus two renewable leases of 25 years each. The Kentucky park was projected to bring 800 seasonal jobs and 25 full-time jobs. Koch still believes reopening the Louisville park is a worthwhile project. In an earlier statement, Paula Werne, director of communications for Holiday World, had said Bluegrass Boardwalk and Holiday World would have operated as two totally separate parks. IDEM Issues Draft Water Permit Notice For RockportIndiana Gasification is pleased that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has issued a public notice of its draft Clean Water Act permit for the company's world-class, clean coal facility. In May, IDEM filed a proposed air permit with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Together, these decisions advance the development of the cleanest coal plant ever permitted in the United States. The IG facility will help fuel Indiana's energy future, reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and create at least 1,500 high-paying jobs here. Plus, IG guarantees Hoosier ratepayer savings of at least $100 million over 30 years," said Bill Rosenberg, a partner in Indiana Gasification and a former assistant administrator for air at EPA. The draft permit reflects Indiana Gasification's use of an advanced zero liquid discharge system that will filter and reuse most of the wastewater coming from the gasification process and evaporate the rest. With this design, no process wastewater will be discharged from the facility. No water will come from area aquifers. Ohio River water, stormwater and recycled water supply the project's needs. River water usage will be managed to average about 0.2 percent of low river flow conditions. Also, stormwater collected from various areas of the plant will be used in the process to reduce both river water use and the potential for discharge of coal-contaminated stormwater. Water discharges will include stormwater and non-process waters from the cooling tower and boiler feedwater system. All of these discharges will meet the requirements of the IDEM permit and Clean Water Act regulations. Construction on this state-of-the-art facility will not begin until after IDEM issues the environmental permits. If all goes as planned, construction will begin in 2013. IDEM Files Proposed Permit for Gasification PlantA company that wants to build a $2.65 billion coal-gasification plant in southwest Indiana says the state Department of Environmental Management has filed a proposed permit for it with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Indiana Gasification contends the project will create 3,000 jobs to build the plant and 500 permanent jobs. Opponents say the plant will harm regional air quality. The plant would turn coal and petroleum coke into pipeline-quality synthetic natural gas and liquefied carbon dioxide. The company says about 80 percent of the plant's natural gas would be sold to the Indiana Finance Authority under an agreement that guarantees Indiana ratepayers savings of at least $100 million over 30 years. The plant would be built in the Ohio River city of Rockport. Spencer County Home to 4 Star SchoolsAccording to information from the Indiana Department of Eductaion, Spencer County is home to 3 schools named 4 statr schools for the 2011-2012 school year. Those school are:
Spencer County Home to 4 Star SchoolsAccording to information from the Indiana Department of Eductaion, Spencer County is home to 3 schools named 4 statr schools for the 2011-2012 school year. Those school are:
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