Dinn Corporation was a roller coaster designing and manufacturing company established in West Chester, Ohio, in 1983 by Charles Dinn. The company is noted for moving and rebuilding several existing wooden coasters and building ten new wooden roller coasters in the United States.
History Charles Dinn served as Kings Island's Director of Construction, Maintenance and Engineering, where he oversaw the design and building of The Beast with a team including Al Collins, Jim Nickell, William Reed and Curtis D. Summers. In November 1983, Dinn left Kings Island and opened his own corporation in West Chester, Ohio. The corporation relocated three older wooden roller coasters from parks that had been closed to new parks. One of the firm's first projects was rebuilding the San Antonio Playland Park Rocket as the Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Resort. In 1985 Dinn contacted Curtis D. Summers, Inc., an engineering firm in Loveland, Ohio, to provide the design for the restoration of the helix of Paragon Park's Giant Coaster which his company was moving to Wild World in Largo, Maryland. That was the start of a relationship that lasted until 1991. In 1987 the two started building new coasters, with Wolverine Wildcat and Raging Wolf Bobs both opening in 1988.
In 1991, Dinn closed the Dinn Corporation after a dispute that occurred during the construction of Pegasus at Efteling. This was despite a possible project in the works for Kings Island to open in 1992. However, his daughter Denise Dinn Larrick formed the now-defunct company Custom Coasters International, with many of the key personnel from the Dinn Corp.
On July 6, 2021, Dinn died at the age of 88 in Clermont, Florida.
List of roller coasters
Dinn Corporation built 11 roller coasters around the world and assisted with at least 3 known restoration.Dinn Corporation - rcdb.com
Relocated/rebuilt coasters
Name Park Country Opened Status Ref Wildcat Lake Compounce United States 1927 PhoenixFormerly Rocket Knoebels Amusement ParkPlayland Park United States 19851948 to 1980 Wild OneFormerly Giant Coaster Six Flags AmericaParagon Park United States 19861917 to 1985
New coasters
Name Park Country Opened Status Ref Wolverine Wildcat Michigan's Adventure United States 1988 Raging Wolf Bobs Geauga Lake United States 1988 Timber Wolf Worlds of Fun United States 1989 Hercules Dorney Park United States 1989 Georgia Cyclone Six Flags Over Georgia United States 1990 Now known as Twisted Cyclone Texas Giant Six Flags Over Texas United States 1990 Now known as New Texas Giant Predator Six Flags Darien Lake United States 1990 Woodland RunFormerly Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom United States 1990 Psyclone Six Flags Magic Mountain United States 1991 Mean Streak Cedar Point United States 1991 Now known as Steel Vengeance Pegasus Efteling Netherlands 1991
Water projects The Dinn Corporation served as project managers on the following ride installations: Raging Rapids, Kennywood The Grand Rapids, Boardwalk and Baseball Zoom Flume, Lake Compounce Paradise Island, Wild World
References