Kennywood Amusement Park is Still Going Strong

In 1898, Kennywood, located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania; began its legacy in the history of “Favorite Parks”. Founded by F.W. Henninger and A.S. McSwigan, Kennywood began as a trolley park then expanding to swimming pools and dance halls. Kennywood was famous and known for catering to the local industrial workers and their families as a working-class picnic destination. During the 1980’s the park began adding thrill rides and expanding its original theme. Through the years, Kennywood has made use of the hilly Pittsburgh terrain to create coasters that wouldn’t be feasible anywhere else.

Kennywood Amusement Park has been an important part of the spirit and culture of Western Pennsylvania since it opened more than a century ago and the grandson of Henninger and the great-grandson of McSwigan are determined to keep it that way. In August of 1997, they were offered a very large sum of money by Premiere Parks, an Oklahoma-based chain, to purchase the park. However, family tradition of over 90 years tends to out-weigh any offer. “We agreed we didn’t found it, we don’t deserve to profit by selling it. Let’s pass it on,” said Mr. Henninger, 60, grandson of F.W. Henninger. “Family pride became bigger than the dollar sign,” said Andrew Quinn, 52, great-grandson of A.S. McSwigan and director of community and government relations for Kennywood; quoted for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Saying that, Kennywood has taken pride to be the point of interest for local events, school picnics and outings from people all over the country, and to accommodate for that, Kennywood owners have decided to expand the park greatly. Hotels, restaurants, and an indoor water park, are in the works for this 30 acre expansion. However most of this expansion is based on the continued development of the $2.5 billion toll road and the completion of the Mon/Fayette Expressway. $2.6 million dollars is planning to be spent to buy an old shopping mall near the parking lot as well as an old railroad service shop in Duquesne. Still needing to raise about $2 billion for the expressway project, official’s state that the project should finally reach the amusement park in about ten years, causing the total completion of the expansion idea set to around the year 2015.
Not only will this expansion attract more people from around the country but it will pose as a benefit to the employment area. Kennywood is estimated to support over 2,800 full time total Pennsylvania jobs in 2015, both direct and indirect, and over 1,700 Allegheny County jobs.

Researchers have concluded that the state level of economical impact of the park ranks $11 million higher than that of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and also the Penn State campuses in Western PA including $1 million higher in state government revenue over West Penn and Allegheny General Hospitals.

Kennywood is thriving to be not only called “America’s Favorite Traditional Amusement Park”, but also is thriving to regain its title as “The Roller Coaster Capital of the World” as well as maintaining its historical feel. Kennywood is truly and will always be a legacy and a historical favorite amusement park for Pittsburgh and for the entire country.