Southern Star Amusement says they will use Nickelodeon license to redevelop Six Flags New Orleans

Uh, what does Six Flags, the company who owns the lease and the stuff sitting there, have to say? And what about the city?

That's what I was wondering. It seems weird that they would have already signed a letter of intent. Unless it had stipulations in it. But, I would never get a letter of intent from a contractor unless they were sure they were doing the work. There seems to be missing information here. There is one other possibility though. SSA might be trying to show the city they're serious about proceeding to push the ball back into their court.

I thought the deal to buy the park from six flags was dead in the water(no pun intended)?

Just about the whole park will have to be rebuilt from scratch, and what would happen if there was another hurricane? Besides 2 or 3 rides, is there any other reason to rebuild at this same location?

crazy horse said:
I thought the deal to buy the park from six flags was dead in the water(no pun intended)?

Just about the whole park will have to be rebuilt from scratch, and what would happen if there was another hurricane? Besides 2 or 3 rides, is there any other reason to rebuild at this same location?

By rebuilding they get a paved parking lot,paths and other bennies like water lines,sewer lines,Power lines. The buildings may have to be razed but the building/ride foundations are still there.

That will save a lot if six flags or the city breaks the lease. Plus if they get the 100 million bond issue they could build a good park with that.

The roller coaster steel is still up so with new sensors, computers,trains and misc other stuff (ie brakes,lifthill motor,lift hill chain) They have a roller coaster at 1/2 the cost.

Kevin38

That steel is likely in need of some major replacement, at least the base pieces as steel usually does not react well to being in stagnant water for months.

I would imagine Six Flags would be just fine with the city breaking the lease. On the other habd, SF may want to play hardball with the city considering the way they have treated SF since the hurricane.

If everyone 'played nice-nice' then it could be a win-win for all partys involved. SF gets out of the lease that they had no plans on paying anyhow (I'm guessing), the city gets back an amusement park. As long as Nick is able to open and operate the damn place, that is.

REBUILD MEGA-ZEPH!

I just moved from New Orleans and with the way things usually work there I doubt that this will go anywhere. In New Orleans if you want to go to an amusement park you go to Blue Bayou and Dixie Landin in Baton Rouge, which has thrived with the departure at Six Flags to the point where they are rumors that they maybe expanding outside of the current park and if you have ever been to Blue Bayou, you know it rivals any water park in the country. Even the amusement park side is growing!

I'm still envisioning an FEC-ish kind of place, with room to expand without the expense of trying to run a full-scale amusement park. And with Nick licensing, you're halfway there if the economy rebounds. The city probably won't ever be "recovered" - but it will grow from where it is now, and tourism will come back as the economy rebounds.

In an ideal world, I'd take the $25M investment that the FMP owners got, but with the Nick licenses, and put it into New Orleans rather than Myrtle....best of all investments. :)

Here's a little more information. But, not much.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/07/09/ap6638402.html

crazy horse said:
Just about the whole park will have to be rebuilt from scratch, and what would happen if there was another hurricane?

With a heavy SpongeBob theme, they should do just fine. ;)

So they've gone from "private investment" to public funding as the backing? It's a lot easier to have big plans when it isn't your own money on the line.

I still want to know more about the people behind this. The CEO, Danny Rogers, claims to have a long history in the industry. Anyone recognize the name?

I heard from the Lemon Chill guy he was a Janitor for a good bit of time at an amusement park...

Naw. He wasn't a janitor. I drove a garbe truck at CP.