By Brent Hovey
Aurora Advocate
BAINBRIDGE "The Big Dipper has been a popular roller coaster at Geauga Lake Park since it was erected in 1926.
On Tuesday, it sold at auction for $5,000, and will be moved to an as yet undisclosed location.
Norton Auctioneers of Michigan, in cooperation with Geauga Lake parent company Cedar Fair, began a two-day auction to sell off items at the park.
The auction will continue at 10:30 a.m. today, when many items will be sold at the Geauga Lake Campground on Treat Road in Aurora.
The Big Dipper was purchased by Tom Woosnam of APEX Western Machinery Movers. He said he bought it for an undisclosed company.
He said the coaster will not go to another amusement park, but the buyer might rebuild it somewhere else. He said in about a week, plans pertaining to the ride's future would be announced.
"It possibly will be re-erected," Woosnam said. "Probably not to be ridden, but for nostalgic purposes."
The sale of the coaster is pending approval by Cedar Fair, which will announce its decision by 5 p.m. today.
The Big Dipper has attracted a lot of attention, especially from the group American Coaster Enthusiasts, which has been trying to save the ride since Cedar Fair announced in September the park would close.
Cedar Fair is continuing to operate Wildwater Kingdom, a water park, on the old Sea World side of Geauga Lake.
More than 400 people gathered at Geauga Lake on Tuesday perhaps for the final time to either bid or just to observe the proceedings.
In the early part of the auction, the highest-priced item was a complex of three water slides. Jeff Henry of Schlitterbahn Water Parks purchased them for $47,500. He plans to take them to a water park in Kansas City.
In an ironic twist, Henry said he sold the same slides to Geauga Lake 15 years ago for $425,000.
The first big attraction sold was the Skyscraper (space tower). Ralph Plumpton of RP Motors in Akron bought the tall structure, which has towered over the park since 1974, for $12,500.
The first item up for sale was the water fountain just inside the main gates. It was purchased by Larry Rickard for $400, who went on to purchase several other items.
Rickard runs a medieval fair near Geneva and wanted some of the items for it.
Even closer to home, Bernie Thompson of Aurora bought all the tables, booths and equipment inside the Checkers Diner for $450. He said he came to the auction looking just for that.
Unlike those who came to Geauga Lake with an idea of what they wanted to bid on, Scott Festa of Bedford just went with the flow. That led him to buy a six-hoop basketball game for $100.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with this," he admitted. "I didn't plan on getting it. I don't even know how I'm going to get it out of here."
For Reminderville resident Mike Davison, the trip wasn't about buying anything, it was about being on the park grounds for one last time.
"This is my last trip to the park; it's unreal," he said. "This is more for nostalgic reasons than anything else. It's the closing of an icon. I never thought this day would come."
As the rides and equipment are sold off this week, bids are being reviewed for purchase of more than 400 acres at the park. Colliers-Ostendorf Morris accepted four bids May 16 and are meeting with the interested parties before recommending the best bid to Cedar Fair.
The Aurora Advocate is a sister publication of the Record-Courier.