Water main break shuts down Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky

6/7/2014

SANDUSKY -- The usually full parking lots at Cedar Point amusement park were empty in the afternoon after a water main break prevented the park from opening for business today and those turned away at the gate had left. 

“It‘‍s a long road to come here... I am slightly disappointed,” said Klaus Tenbergen, 53, of Cleveland. “I came here to see the park, to explore where I live, to enjoy Lake Erie and the rides.”

Instead, Mr. Tenbergen, who moved to Cleveland from Fresno, Calif., three days ago, was taking pictures of trees trimmed into figurines near the parking lot gates. There were no other visitors in sight at the time -- about 3:30 p.m. -- but there were earlier reports of some disgruntled customers who had been turned away at the gate.

Just down the road from the topiary, a Sandusky police unit blocked the causeway on the amusement park’‍s property, about 150 yards from the entrance, by what a park‘‍s police officer said was the scene of the broken pipe. Repair workers could be seen milling around heavy road equipment.

On its Facebook page, the park‘‍s administration said a water main line to Cedar Point broke early in the morning and that city repair crews were working to fix the problem. Sandusky police confirmed that the incident occurred but released no further details.

“Without our normal water supply, and due to safety concerns, the park is unable to open today,” the Facebook posting reads. “All guest tickets will be honored on future dates this season. Please visit cedarpoint.com for the latest updates.”

Bryan Edwards, the amusement park’‍s public relations manager, said he did not know what caused the break, how much money the park lost due to the park closure, how many tickets had been refunded, or how soon the park might reopen. He did say that visitors were given an option to use their tickets on another day or to have them refunded.

Cedar Point later posted on its Web site that the amusement park and its three resort hotels would remain closed Sunday.

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.