GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Today marks exactly 10 years since the Zippin Pippin rollercoaster opened to the public at Bay Beach Amusement Park.
Over the past decade, Bay Beach Manager Jason Arnoldi tells FOX 11 there’s been between 3 and 4 million $1 rides on the rollercoaster.
“It feels like yesterday in some ways and a lifetime ago in others with all the changes that have happened because of the addition of this ride.”
The year before the Zippin Pippin opened, Bay Beach made about $1.6 million in revenue. The first year it was open, revenue went up to $2.4 million. In 2019, the yearly revenue was up to $3.6 million.
Shortly after the ride opened, then Mayor Jim Schmitt said the total cost of bringing the ride to Green Bay would be about $3.8 million.
Arnoldi says the jump in revenue isn’t the only proof the coaster was worth the cost.
“Since the Zippin Pippin and the Friends of Bay Beach formation, because of the friends, we’ve been able to bring in five more rides out here, in addition to the Zippin Pippin.”
The Friends of Bay Beach is the fundraising group for the park, which has donated money to bring in the new rides.
FOX 11 asked Arnoldi if the park expansion still would have happened without the Zippin Pippin.
“No, I think the Zippin Pippin was definitely the catalyst for all of this. Mayor Jim Schmitt and the city council at the time definitely took a chance by doing this and it really paid off in a big way for the folks of Green Bay.”
Schmitt was and remains the ride’s biggest cheerleader.
“This is going to be the most popular ride at Bay Beach,” Schmitt predicted in 2010.
Some of the loudest opposition 10 years ago came from Schmitt’s mayoral challenger, Pat Evans. At the time, Evans called the city’s financial projections a “boondoggle.”
“I don’t think the finances will ever really pay for itself, but after 10 years it’s still running and I’m a big enough man to say I was against it and I certainly wouldn’t have put it in,” said Evans. “But it’s been there for 10 years and I’m glad the park is doing well.”
Evans still questions whether 200,000 Pippin riders per year is possible, which was what the city originally projected to pay off the bonds for the ride.
Arnoldi says the coaster has surpassed those expectations and gets around 300,000 riders each summer.
Tonight, the city is holding a celebration from 5 to 9 for the Zippin Pippin. You can have unlimited rides for $5. It was Elvis Presley’s favorite ride, so Let Me Be Frank will be out there providing live entertainment.
The next big project at Bay Beach is supposed to be additions to the waterfront. Arnoldi says construction on a fishing pier and boardwalk will begin this fall. He says the city is keeping an eye on water levels to determine if a sand beach is still possible. For now, the beach plans have been put on a hold as a result of high water levels and financial issues.
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