CEO of Cedar Fair to leave that position in January

Cedar Fair’s corporate headquarters at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio (Photo by Gregory Varnum – the Point Seekers, CC BY-SA 3.0)

SANDUSKY, Ohio — Amusement park operator Cedar Fair Entertainment says its chief executive will leave that position in January and be succeeded by the company’s president.

The Ohio-based amusement park chain said current CEO Matt Ouimet (WEE’-meht) will vacate that position on Jan. 1 and take a new role as executive chairman of Cedar Fair’s board.

Richard Zimmerman will become CEO of the company headquartered in Sandusky, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) west of Cleveland.

Ouimet has been Cedar Fair’s CEO since 2011.

Zimmerman has been Cedar Fair’s chief operating officer since 2011 and its president since 2016.

The company owns and operates 11 amusement parks including Cedar Point in Sandusky, two outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels. It also operates another theme park under a management contract.