To the surprise of few who followed the clues Kennywood Park dished out over the last two months, the park announced Thursday that the now-demolished Log Jammer ride will be replaced by a 4,000-foot, steel, roller coaster that will extend into the Midway area of the park.
But what did stun people was that in addition to the coaster’s Steeler-themed name, “The Steel Curtain,” Kennywood will also build adjacent to the coaster a new, 3-acre section dubbed “Steelers Country,” a football-themed play area, believed to be the first pro sports team tie-in at an amusement park.
Coming in 2019: The Steel Curtain. #HereWeGo #Project412 #SteelersCountry pic.twitter.com/CWostQlsWN
— Kennywood Park (@Kenny_Kangaroo) July 19, 2018
“The whole Steeler thing surprised me,” said Bill Linkenheimer, regional representative of the Western Pennsylvania chapter of the Association of Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE), who was invited by the park to their news conference Thursday announcing the move.
“When they took out the Log Jammer, I knew something major was going to happen with a bigger area of land, but I didn’t know it would be something like this with the Steelers,” he said. “But they have been adding more indoor areas with air conditioning lately, too, so this fits with that.”
Kennywood's new ride
Kennywood on Thursday announced that the ride that will replace the Log Jammer, which was taken down last year, will be a 4,000-foot, steel roller coaster dubbed “Steel Curtain.” It will be located on the site of the former Log Jammer.
Park officials said, and industry experts confirm, that it is believed to be the first use of a sports team’s intellectual property – in this case the name of the ride and section of the park- at an amusement park.
“Using [intellectual property] with a sports team and associating it with a hard ride? No. I don’t think that it has ever been done,” said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services of Cincinnati, and a manager or consultant in the industry for 47 years who has done work in over 500 parks.
Disney World in Orlando did used to have an NBA-themed area with an NBA store, but that is the only sports tie Mr. Speigel could think of that is at all similar to what Kennywood and the Steelers are now doing, he said.
“I think it’s a great move,” Mr. Speigel said. “This is something that could roll out across the U.S. for sure.”
The new Steelers Country section of Kennywood will take up 3 acres of land with a plaza, water features and the End Zone cafe. pic.twitter.com/EJQ7t88MyW
— Kennywood Park (@Kenny_Kangaroo) July 19, 2018
Of course, the tie to the Steelers might have some downside.
“I got a text from a friend right after that announcement,” said Dave Hahner, who has written a book about Kennywood and is the historian for the local ACE chapter, and who was invited to the press conference. “He said: ‘Well, there goes the Cleveland market.’”
Nick Paradise, the park’s spokesman, laughed when told about the text Mr. Hahner received.
“We’ll see” if it prevents people from Cleveland from coming, he said. “But we believe people who love to ride coasters will come here to ride this from all over.”
Despite his friend’s sarcastic text, Mr. Hahner agrees.
“They’ll come from around the world to ride this coaster, in part because it is in Kennywood, which is known for excellent roller coasters,” he said. “I think those who like inversions and like riding upside down will like it, but even casual roller coaster fans will too.”
Pete Barto, sales director for S&S Worldwide, the company that designed and is building the coaster, said one of the parts of The Steel Curtain’s experience he is most proud of is that despite the North American-record nine inversions the coaster will have, “it’s not going to be one of those disorienting rides.”
That, he said, is despite all the twists and turns upside down, The Steel Curtain will have really smooth “transitions” between those twists and turns.
“It just flows well,” he said, referring to a mock-up video the company made of how the ride will go.
That will be welcome to longtime Kennywood fans who recall the head-thumping they got on the old Steel Phantom roller coaster, which, because of those head-thumping rides was rebuilt in 2001 into Phantom’s Revenge, which was recently voted the third-best roller coaster in the U.S.
The Steel Curtain, expected to open at some point during the 2019 season, is the park’s first new roller coaster since it added Sky Rocket in 2010, and the park’s first major roller coaster addition since it created Phantom’s Revenge in 2001.
In addition to the record for most inversions in North America – nine, two more than 10 other coasters have now - The Steel Curtain will break a Pennsylvania record as the tallest roller coaster in the state at 220 feet – five feet taller than Sky Rush at Hersheypark - and it will set a world record with the tallest inversion at 197 feet – 10 feet taller than a loop on a coaster in China.
Among other details the park confirmed Thursday that were part of its Project 412 teasers over the last two months, The Steel Curtain will hit a maximum speed of 75 mph during its 2-minute-long ride, carry 24 passengers, go to a maximum height of 220 feet, have a starting launch angle of 50 degrees.
“I’ve ridden about 200 coasters and I’ve never been on one quite like this one,” said Aaron Maricic, co-owner and webmaster of the Kennywood Connection fan website, who was invited to Thursday’s press conference. “It’s going to be a unique coaster.”
It will be tucked largely onto the site where the Log Jammer used to be in the northeast corner of the park between the pavilion area – seven pavilions will be removed or repurposed to make way for the new coaster and Steelers Country - and its famous, 91-year-old Racer wooden roller coaster.
Mr. Maricic said losing the pavilions was not “that big a concern for me” since the park has already built new picnic areas near Phantom’s Revenge. “Picnics are such a big part of Kennywood, I’m sure they’ll do their best to create other areas for them.”
Mr. Paradise said they do have plans to make up for the seven pavilions that will be lost, but those plans have not been finalized.
Three acres next to it will become Steelers Country, which will feature football-themed games aimed at kids and families where they can throw footballs or kick field goals, as well as an indoor café, and another indoor area that will include a “Terrible Tower” and other Steeler-themed activities.
Ryan Huzjak, director of corporate sales and partnerships for the Steelers, said Kennywood approached the team about a year ago about working with them on the coaster name and a themed area.
“I was intrigued,” he said about the pitch from the park. “I think Kennywood has got a great connection to tradition… and I thought it was an opportunity for us to court that connection both seasonally and during spring and summer, particularly with young kids who may not be able to experience football fully.”
He said naming the ride was a back-and-forth project, and some of the names that made the short list were plays on the “Terrible Towel” theme.
“But once we got to Steel Curtain, we didn’t have to go too far” to agree on it.
Even though some coaster enthusiasts speculated in the past that the coaster might be made of wood, Mr. Barto said when Kennywood first approached S&S about 2 ½ years ago, “it was always steel” for the coaster, not wood.
“They wanted something big,” he said, and the park wanted a custom ride, not a coaster from another park’s plan.
He said they were told generally where the coaster would be located – on the old Log Jammer site – about two years ago.
Ever since, his company has tried to keep details under wraps, an effort that became even tougher this year when preliminary work on the new coaster began.
Some coaster enthusiasts have said they heard that employees of S&S were told not to wear shirts with the company logo, and to cover any logos on vehicles.
Mr. Barto said he didn’t know about that, but, when he came to the park on Wednesday, he made sure not to wear a company-logoed shirt. And even on Thursday when he did wear a company shirt, he wore a jacket into the park to cover it up.
“Something this big? To keep it quiet?” he said. “It’s a pretty big task.”
Sean D. Hamill: shamill@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2579 or Twitter: @SeanDHamill
First Published: July 19, 2018, 4:29 p.m.
