MEADVILLE —
Conneaut Lake Park will be more haunted than usual this Halloween season after an agreement was reached Monday in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas. As a result, two public walk-through events will be held there at the same time during most of the next month.
On Friday, Mid America Events Ltd. of Niles, Ohio, filed for an injunction in county court against Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park Inc. and Park Restoration LLC asking the court to block a planned Halloween-themed haunting event by Park Restoration, scheduled to open this weekend.
That would have two Halloween events operating in the park at the same time.
However, Mid America claimed Park Restoration’s event (The Horrifying Haunt) would violate provisions of a contract Mid America has with the Trustees to provide Halloween-themed entertainment (Ghost Lake). The Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park is the public trust that owns the park, while Park Restoration operates the Hotel Conneaut and Beach Club nightclub under a lease agreement with the trustees.
After about an hour of negotiations Monday, all parties were able to work out a settlement agreement allowing both parties to operate their events. The agreement was entered as a court order by Judge John Spataro.
“I’m glad we were able to work it out equitably,” said Jack Moyers, president of the Trustees.
Dominic Baragona of Mid America and Greg Sutterlin of Park Restoration also both said the were relieved all parties could reach a settlement.
In its injunction filing, Mid America argued if Park Restoration operated a competing Halloween-themed event as planned at the Hotel Conneaut and Beach Club, that would violate an agreement between Mid America and the Trustees.
On Oct. 27, 2011, Mid America and the Trustees signed an agreement granting Mid America the exclusive right to conduct a Halloween-themed attraction or event in and around the park.
While the agreement doesn’t grant Mid America exclusive right to operate a portion of its event in the Hotel Conneaut, the agreement bars any other entity from staging a competing Halloween-themed event anywhere within Conneaut Lake Park.
Park Restoration’s event is set to take place Friday through Oct. 28, while Mid America’s agreement with the Trustees calls for its event to commence annually on the second to last Friday of September and may run through Nov. 2.
Mid America’s agreement with the Trustees also grants Mid America exclusive right to use the ticket booths at the entrance to the park along Route 618 unless there is written permission granted by both Mid America and the Trustees for other sales; and only tickets pertaining directly to Mid America’s event may be sold in the ticket booth located in the center of the park during the hours of the event unless there is written permission otherwise by both Mid America and the Trustees.
Monday’s settlement agreement between Mid America, the Trustees and Park Restoration reaffirms those contract provisions. The settlement agreement will not allow any party to sell tickets at a security guard station along Reed Avenue. In exchange, Mid America agrees to withdraw its request for an injunction.
Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.
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