Takeover of Fort Rapids water park looms as warrant issued for owner's arrest

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- After he failed to appear in a Franklin County court, a judge has ordered the arrest of the former Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark's owner.

A mandatory compliance hearing for Jeff Oh Kern was scheduled in the environmental court Thursday, but he didn't show up. Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein announced because of Kern's absence, the court sided with the city and ruled the owner should be arrested. His bond is set at $2.5 million.

Kern, of Los Angeles, is facing legal troubles because he failed to bring the abandoned Fort Rapids up to code. A judge ordered him to pay $199,000 worth of fines to the city after being found in contempt of court in June. Kern also saw his daily fines doubled from $1,000 to $2,000 per day. At the time, he was warned that failure to comply with a July 27 deadline to submit plans and set aside funds for the property's rehabilitation would result in jail time.

Once his deadline and compliance hearing came and went without a plan or proof of funding, Judge Stephanie Mingo agreed to set a date for a receivership hearing for the property. Klein's office said this is the first step toward a takeover of the property.

“Letting this property fall into disrepair and walking away from the responsibility to fix this mess is not an option," Klein said. "We’re committed to the future of this site, and we will continue to use every available tool to hold these owners accountable, bring the property up to code, and reignite this site’s economic potential.”

Klein wants the abandoned water park sold to new owners. At a 2017 auction, Kern purchased the property for $2.5 million.

“We’re moving forward with a plan to hopefully get a group in here to take over the property, bring it up to code, and prepare it for sale to an ownership that sees the value in this site," Klein said.

Since Kern took over Fort Rapids, he has continued to accumulate code violations for not sufficiently working on its upkeep. In 2018, millions of gallons of water poured out of the hotel's windows from a burst pipe on the blighted water park's upper floor.

"It was really thriving. It was a great place to go," Mark Harper, vice-chairman of the city's South East Area Commission, said.

When the doors closed in 2016, the public, and Harper, didn't know they wouldn't reopen.

"It's just been sitting here unproductive and an eyesore," he said. "Code violation after code regulation and nothing's been done."

The Fort Rapids case was not Kern's only recent run in with the law. In March 2023, he averted a jury trial for a criminal case in Midland, Michigan, related to his failure to clean up the demolition site of a Holiday Inn he owned. As was the case in Columbus, Midland city leaders were hoping to take over the property from Kern.

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

A receivership hearing for Kern is set for October.

"I think it is long overdue, that this has come up," Harper said. "I'm glad that City Attorney Kline has decided to take this route through the Environmental Court."

Should Kern be arrested, he would be held until he complies with the court order to submit a rehabilitation plan and post cash or bond for 125% of the costs of the full rehabilitation plan, Klein said.