A receiver has been appointed to oversee the Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark Resort, as the troubled East Side property seeks a path forward.
Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Stephanie Mingo granted the city’s request to appoint the receiver after determining the long-closed property is unsecure and out of compliance with city codes. In her decision, Mingo cited a large hole in the roof of one of the buildings caused by an October fire, among other problems.
Mingo appointed the Dublin firm New Perspective Asset Management to “secure, preserve and maintain the property” as it winds through the courts.
“For too long, this site has been a blight on the East Side,” Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in a news release about the decision. “Receivers are ready to secure the property and ensure that it does not further deteriorate as we work toward a long-term plan that reinvests in the East Side of Columbus.”
The move is the latest in a long skirmish between the city and owners of the property, which opened as a water park in 2006 in a former Holiday Inn off South Hamilton Road. A decade later, in 2016, the city of Columbus ordered the park closed, citing a number of problems including fire-code violations, bug infestations and improper food handling.
A year later, California investor Juzi Cui (also known as “Jizi Cui”) acquired the property for $2.5 million. Cui died two years later, leaving the property in probate, where parties battle for ownership as the property continues to deteriorate. In 2021, the city declared the property a nuisance and the following year Franklin County Environmental Court fined the owners $1,000 a day until code violations were remedied.
After the problems continued, the court in June held Cui’s estate in contempt, with a $199,000 fine, and doubled fines already on the property to $2,000 a day until the property is brought into compliance.
The fines have not been paid.
jweiker@dispatch.com
@JimWeiker
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Troubled Fort Rapids property takes another turn