GONE.

A few years ago, I made what might be my final visit to Conneaut Lake Park in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The park was home to a wooden roller coaster, the Blue Streak, with an intriguing model board and a lot of air time.

And now, it's gone.

At an amusement park steeped in nostalgia, the 84-year-old Blue Streak — designated a landmark roller coaster by the American Coaster Enthusiasts — was the centerpiece.

A portion of that centerpiece, a wooden roller coaster built at Conneaut Lake Park, laid on the ground as charred ruins Wednesday morning.

The Blue Streak was in the process of being dismantled when it was damaged by fire Tuesday night, a park official said in a Facebook post Tuesday night.

Those over-winter fires have long plagued amusement parks, and yes, that is January 2022 news.  The amusement park has faced an uncertain future, roller coaster or no, for years, and when I last rode it, it was in rough shape and the park chose not to run it in the rain.  It's still another Rust Belt roller coaster loss.  The comments to the video, from an Erie television station, are critical of the park owners. 

There still is an amusement park at Conneaut Lake, although it's wise to check the website to check that the remaining amusement rides (the "classic carousel," they changed to the modern spelling, is still there, and a number of the other attractions are of the portable carnival variety) are operating.

The story also offers a caution to preservationists.  That a hobbyist group such as the American Coaster Enthusiasts honors a roller coaster as historically significant does not imply the honored item, whether a roller coaster or a building is listed with the National Register of Historic Places or as a World Heritage Site.