Has anyone heard anything about Bell's recently? I would assume their funding was crushed by the recession.
The next amusement park will show in Jenks.
The county needs to move the power plant on west 31st and replace it with Zingo as payback to the city....
Quote from: RipTout on March 25, 2009, 10:13:13 PM
The next amusement park will show in Jenks.
In 20 years, maybe. Not likely anytime soon.
They need to abandon "amusement park" and think "boardwalk"
It's all sitting down around 13th & Elgin right now...
Quote from: Conan71 on March 26, 2009, 03:20:41 PM
It's all sitting down around 13th & Elgin right now...
Perfect. Downtown.
The Entertainment Assesment District can fund it......
I would put an amusement park right next door to the big casino complex in Catoosa. You have hotels for the family, golf courses for Dad, slot machines for Mom and would then have rides and games of chance for the kids. The critical mass of it all would spur tremendous changes.
Then you could use the new property tax revenue to build a bypass a few blocks away to lessen the traffic problems for people who don't want to get back on the highway.
Quote from: RecycleMichael on March 26, 2009, 05:46:46 PM
I would put an amusement park right next door to the big casino complex in Catoosa. You have hotels for the family, golf courses for Dad, slot machines for Mom and would then have rides and games of chance for the kids. The critical mass of it all would spur tremendous changes.
Then you could use the new property tax revenue to build a bypass a few blocks away to lessen the traffic problems for people who don't want to get back on the highway.
You are wise.
Bell's is not coming to Owasso. The rumors had been flying that they were locating to 106th St N. and 129th E. Ave.
However, the Mayor of Owasso spoke at my Networking Group Monday and he put the rumor to rest. He said Bell's just did not fit into the over all development plans of Owasso.
The cost of policing some place like Bells and the riff raff an establishment such as Bell's would attract was not in the best interest of Owasso.
There's riff raff in Owassa? Or do you predict that Tulsa riff raff will follow Bell's wherever they go? My sons all went to Bell's, I went to Bell's as a youth and my best friends worked there. One man's riff is another mans raff I guess. ::)
No, it fits perfectly with Owasso's master plan of 'let's not have local owned businesses here as part of our core; instead, let's invite all the big-box stores'.
Six Flags certainly can't be long down the road, now can it?
;D
Quote from: RecycleMichael on March 26, 2009, 05:46:46 PM
I would put an amusement park right next door to the big casino complex in Catoosa. You have hotels for the family, golf courses for Dad, slot machines for Mom and would then have rides and games of chance for the kids. The critical mass of it all would spur tremendous changes.
Then you could use the new property tax revenue to build a bypass a few blocks away to lessen the traffic problems for people who don't want to get back on the highway.
Bills + Cherokee money = new amusement park east of 193rd E. Ave. by the hotel/casino and south of the high school.
I think I have mentioned this before here, but this thread is a good opportunity to mention it again. The Tulsa area is in need of a good amusement park. Why can't we attract a national company that would actually build a park that would be worthwhile? The nearest amusement park is Frontier City so you would think Northeast Oklahoma would be attractive to a national company.
So let's say you are Owasso or the Cherokees or Tulsa or whomever, why would you even talk to Bell's before running the traps with national folks that build and operate clean and modern amusement parks? I DON'T WANT ANOTHER BELL'S AMUSEMENT PARK!!!!! I want something good. We know what Bell's is and it simply isn't good.
Quote from: BierGarten on March 27, 2009, 09:02:18 AM
I think I have mentioned this before here, but this thread is a good opportunity to mention it again. The Tulsa area is in need of a good amusement park. Why can't we attract a national company that would actually build a park that would be worthwhile? The nearest amusement park is Frontier City so you would think Northeast Oklahoma would be attractive to a national company.
So let's say you are Owasso or the Cherokees or Tulsa or whomever, why would you even talk to Bell's before running the traps with national folks that build and operate clean and modern amusement parks? I DON'T WANT ANOTHER BELL'S AMUSEMENT PARK!!!!! I want something good. We know what Bell's is and it simply isn't good.
Not a good industry right now. Six Flags is rumored to be just about done.
If Bell's can get rebuilt, I think they would have to charge enough gate admission to service the debt now that riff-raff couldn't afford to go in and loiter. JMO.
Quote from: Conan71 on March 27, 2009, 12:01:43 PM
Not a good industry right now. Six Flags is rumored to be just about done.
If Bell's can get rebuilt, I think they would have to charge enough gate admission to service the debt now that riff-raff couldn't afford to go in and loiter. JMO.
Six Flags Announces Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2008 Results - Full Year 2008 Adjusted EBITDA(1) Increases 45% to a Record $275.3 Million on 5% Revenue Growth and Reduced Costs and Expenses
- Full Year 2008 Operating Income More than Triples to $144.0 Million
- Positive Free Cash Flow(1) Achieved for Full Year 2008 for the First Time in the Company's History
- Fourth Quarter Adjusted EBITDA Reaches $5.2 Million and, Excluding Certain Non-Cash Items(2), Loss From Continuing Operations Per Share Improves to $0.83
http://investors.sixflags.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61629&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1264612&highlight= (http://investors.sixflags.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61629&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1264612&highlight=)
Quote from: BierGarten on March 27, 2009, 12:38:29 PM
Six Flags Announces Full-Year and Fourth Quarter 2008 Results
- Full Year 2008 Adjusted EBITDA(1) Increases 45% to a Record $275.3 Million on 5% Revenue Growth and Reduced Costs and Expenses
- Full Year 2008 Operating Income More than Triples to $144.0 Million
- Positive Free Cash Flow(1) Achieved for Full Year 2008 for the First Time in the Company's History
- Fourth Quarter Adjusted EBITDA Reaches $5.2 Million and, Excluding Certain Non-Cash Items(2), Loss From Continuing Operations Per Share Improves to $0.83
http://investors.sixflags.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61629&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1264612&highlight= (http://investors.sixflags.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61629&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1264612&highlight=)
Strange, NPR had a story just the other day talking about 6 Flags being at death's door.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gFDwcBaqm4uJHFfRM54bfm6elKPwD96T5MNG0 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gFDwcBaqm4uJHFfRM54bfm6elKPwD96T5MNG0)
Ahead of the Bell: Six Flags bankruptcy fears grow
Mar 13, 2009
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Six Flags Inc. fell in premarket trading Friday as worries grew that the theme park operator may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Six Flags shares lost 2 cents, or 10.5 percent, to 17 cents in early trading. The stock has traded between 16 cents and $2.50 during the past 52 weeks.
In its fourth-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, Six Flags said it does not expect to have enough cash to redeem its preferred income redeemable shares on their redemption date of Aug. 15.
The shares, known as PIERS, must be redeemed for $287.5 million plus accrued and unpaid dividends, which may total up to $31.3 million. The company has skipped paying the dividends since May of last year.
The company said the PIERS redemption is one hurdle it is hoping to overcome in pursuing a "comprehensive restructuring of its balance sheet." If the company fails to refinance or restructure the PIERS, it would constitute a default that would allow its lenders to demand payment for other obligations.
In its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, the company said it may be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if it cannot negotiate an out-of-court restructuring agreement with its PIERS holders, common stockholder and creditors.
"Such a court filing would likely occur prior to the maturity of the PIERS or well in advance of such date, if we were to conclude at such time that an out-of-court solution is not feasible or advantageous," Six Flags said in the filing.
Who knows what to believe right now? It's been a shorter's market since July.
I thought Bells was going to Sand Springs. Shrugs thought I remember a story about it not to long ago, in the last 6 or 9 months or so.
I think the family has probably had enough by now, what with losing the election and being shun by so many communities. I expect to see the rides start popping up on ITAL in a few months.
It's really unfortunate though. As I've said before, Bell's doesn't deserve most of the rap it's garnered. Every public space has it's problems with kids (like a few of our malls ::)) and one death in over 50 years of operation is actually as good or better a safety record than any other theme park in the country. I always enjoyed the park. Having traveled the world riding coasters and visiting parks, I always thought it was a decently clean and well-managed park for it's size. Trust me, if the park had a different operator than the Bell family, it would have been a LOT worse.
The really unfortunate thing is that Bell's is our only hope for an amusement park in the Tulsa area. Six Flags will almost certainly break up in the next year (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200903/1090/), Cedar Fair is already trying to sell of Worlds of Fun and ValleyFair, and the other operators including PARC and HFEC are just not going to be interested. With the effects of the current economic climate stretching into the next decade, and with increased fears over new projects after all the brand new parks that have failed just in the last couple of years, there's no way someone's just going to come out of the woodwork to start something new - and if they did it would likely be a Murphy-style funfair.
So I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Bell's. If they had only gotten to build their new wooden coaster sooner, things would be different. Robby had some really amazing plans for the park, both in it's old location and at the new one.
+1