At 73 years old, it's no wonder the creaky, wooden bones of Conneaut Lake Park's feature coaster are a little worn out.
The Blue Streak was built just after the Golden Age of amusement parks, arriving in 1937 at the park, which in recent years has struggled just to stay open. The coaster's entrance itself these days is closed, the ride not operable since about 2006 due to a faulty section of track overlooking the nearby highway.
But it still caught the eye of a group that this week will name it an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark, one of only 30 in the world, due to its historical significance and characteristics.
"It's really a good coaster," said John Gerard, of American Coaster Enthusiasts. "There's a lot of pep to it. We're hoping it will lead to recognition for the coaster and Conneaut Lake Park in general."
The recognition isn't the only honor Conneaut Lake Park will have this week. The park is one of four stops on the organization's annual convention, during which about 500 of the 6,000-member group will get their own private ride time at each stop, which will also include Kennywood in Pittsburgh, Idlewild in Somerset and Waldamere in Erie.
Thursday, the group will get a guided tour through Conneaut Lake Park, which won't be open to the public when they arrive. They'll present a plaque naming the Blue Streak a landmark coaster before the park officially opens at 4 p.m., kicking off the its first Thursday hours of the season.
Jack Moyers, chairman of park's board of trustees, said the group will not be able to ride the Blue Streak.
"I believe we're the only park they've ever visited where a coaster is not operating," said Moyers. "That makes it pretty special to us that they want to come and see us and support what we're doing at our park."
The last year it ran was in 2006, said Moyer, one year before the park went under court custodianship due to its debt problems. The park was not open in 2007 or 2008. Officials began leasing out the park to an outside operator in 2009.
The Blue Streak is one of the park's three coasters and was built in 1937. It is one of the few existing Edward Vettel-designed coasters still in existence, according to ACE. It's about 2,900 feet long, and its highest point peaks at 77 feet.
The coaster is in the middle of a restoration project set to cost roughly $125,000. ACE has contributed about $5,000 toward that amount, but the park is still struggling to make up much of the cost.
The project will involve replacing about 350 feet of track boards and walkways on the coaster's curve that overlooks the highway. After the work is complete, Moyer said the ride's train must travel 100 laps to test for any weak points. The coaster should be back up and running sometime this season.
Gerard said not all landmark coasters are wooden -- the 30 include the Magnum at Cedar Point and the Matterhorn at Disney World.
"With those, it's not as much a preservation issue, but denotes them for what they stood for as coasters advanced," said Gerard.
