Arts/Entertainment/Sports: KEVIN LEMBKE
PARK PRESIDENT, BUSCH GARDENS AND WATER COUNTRY USA, WILLIAMSBURG
Published
Aside from a brief exit during 2019, Lembke has served as Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s president since February 2018. He spent the last two years ushering the popular theme park through the pandemic.
Most recently he’s overseen the rollout of a new park attraction. Billed as “the world’s fastest multi-launch coaster,” The Pantheon reaches speeds of 73 mph and climbs to 180 feet. Another new attraction is in the works, according to local reports of the theme park seeking approval for a 355-foot-high structure.
In February, the park’s owner, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., was rebuffed in its attempt to acquire Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., owner of the rival Kings Dominion theme park in Hanover, for $3.4 billion.
A New York native, Lembke graduated from the University of Buffalo in 1999 and started a yearlong sales internship with the Buffalo Bills. He got into the theme park business in 2000 as manager of retail operations at SeaWorld Orlando. He serves on the board of the Williamsburg Tourism Council.
