COLUMBUS, Ohio — A tower on the property that once housed the Fort Rapids Indoor WaterPark Resorts in east Columbus caught on fire.
Crews spent hours Monday morning battling the blaze. While the cause of the fire is under investigation, a large amount of smoke could be seen coming from the property.
What is Fort Rapids?
Fort Rapids was an indoor water park that was open from 2006 to 2016. During its tenure, the water park had a history of violations and issues that caused many health problems among guests. From 2015 to early 2016, guests at the water park complained about getting sick. Those complaints ranged from asthma attacks and bronchitis to vomiting.
The water park shut down in 2016.
Jeff Kern bought the property in 2017 after the water park was shuttered, but never reopened the business.
The City of Columbus took legal action against Kern to get him to bring the property back into compliance. Since August 2022, he has been incurring $1,000 a day in fines. The fines were then increased to $2,000 a day.
In 2019, Code Enforcement documented violations of the city safety code. Personnel from code and fire found that the property was violating several codes.
The violations include alarm systems that were not working, abandoned vehicles, overgrown grass and weeds, damage to the face of the building and unsecured doors and windows.
The property was declared a public nuisance in August 2021 after Kern failed to bring the property into compliance.
In June 2024, the city held the property owners in contempt and mandated that they submit plans to rehabilitate the property.
In August, the Franklin County Environmental Court ordered Kern's arrest after he did not attend a mandatory compliance hearing. The judge set a $2.5 million bond for him.