The Hotel Conneaut, the hotel on the park’s grounds, has some 120 of its 136 rooms open for the weekend, according to Greg Sutterlin of Park Restoration Inc., which has leased the hotel and Beach Club.

“We’re near capacity for Saturday night,” he said of reservations. “We’re ready to go. We’re hoping for really good numbers this weekend.”

The Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau has been inundated with calls about Conneaut Lake Park since the news broke in mid-April the park’s rides would be back in operation.

“We’ve been getting 25 to 30 calls a day since the news came out,” said Juanita Hampton, the bureau’s executive director. Calls mainly are coming from the Pittsburgh area as well as Ohio plus there have been calls from Florida and New Jersey, she said.

Hampton said that as of Thursday less than 50 of the 500 tickets for Saturday night’s DoWopp music show at the Beach Club remained.

“It’s exciting,” said Hampton. “People will be visiting local businesses when they’re here. They have to eat, buy gas, find a place to stay overnight. It should pay off for the community.”

That’s because tourism money turns over as much as seven times within the community, she said.

As visitors spend money at local motels or campgrounds, restaurants, gas stations and other retailers, those businesses will recirculate the money in the region as they pay employees and suppliers. It turns over again as employees at those businesses buy goods and services locally, she said.

For visitors like Cortes, he wants to see the park not only survive, but thrive.

“It’s good family-oriented entertainment.”

Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.

There are a number of special events at Conneaut Lake Park as part of its DoWopp Memorial Day weekend.

Today