Columbus hits abandoned Fort Rapids owner with steep fines for upkeep failure

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The owner of the former Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark is getting thousands of dollars in fines after failing to follow a court order to bring the property up to code.

On Tuesday, the Franklin County Municipal Court Environmental Division ordered Jeff Oh Kern -- owner of the blighted Fort Rapids -- to pay $199,000 in contempt fines to the city. Originally facing $1,000 daily fines until the property was up to code, the court also doubled his penalty to $2,000 per day.

The court gave Kern a deadline of July 27 to submit written plans for the property's full rehabilitation. He will also have to set aside money for the plan's cost, with failure to comply resulting in jail time, according to Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein.

“Whether it’s Eastland Mall or Fort Rapids, these properties that hold so much potential for the east side need to be kept up, and we will continue to hold owners accountable for failing to meet the demands of the court, the city, and the surrounding community,” Klein said in a release.

Kern, of Los Angeles, first acquired the now-blighted waterpark for $2.5 million at an auction in 2017, a year after it had been condemned by the city. In 2021, the property was declared a public nuisance because Klein said the 71-year-old failed to clean it up and bring it back up to code. He was then ordered to pay the original $1,000 per day fines just 12 months later.

Over the years, Kern has continued to let the deserted resort rack up code violations and disregard its upkeep. In 2018, millions of gallons of water poured out of the hotel's windows from a burst pipe on Fort Rapid's upper floor.

“The estate is broke, and Jeff won’t pay anything,” Columbus real estate agent Dan Sheeran, who was working to sell the property, said in 2018. “I’m not even sure why the electricity we have -- and by electricity I mean four or five outlets -- is still on.”

In March 2023, Kern averted a jury trial in Midland, Michigan, in a criminal case related to his failure to clean up the demolition site of a Holiday Inn he also owned. Similar to the Fort Rapids debacle, Midland city leaders were eager to get the property out of Kern's ownership.

"It's astounding how the Fort Rapids project is basically paralleling ours," Midland City Attorney Jim Branson told NBC4 in 2023.

A compliance hearing in the Fort Rapids case is set for Aug. 1, days after the deadline for Kern's rehabilitation plan.