Posted on 09/13/2005 4:52:01 PM PDT by Michael Goldsberry
It's the place where Houston children got their summer thrills, teenagers got their first jobs and college students saw their favorite bands.
Now after 37 years, the landmark Six Flags AstroWorld theme park will close at the end of this season, the victim of rising land values that overshadow its worth as an entertainment venue.
"While attendance has gone down, the value of the land has gone up substantially," said Jim Dannhauser, chief financial officer of Oklahoma City-based Six Flags.
Owner of 30 amusement parks, Six Flags has more than $2 billion in debt.
Former Houston Mayor Roy Hofheinz opened AstroWorld in 1968 and since then the park has hosted company picnics, concerts and family reunions, and children have stood on their tiptoes to meet the height requirements for roller coasters.
Rides like Greezed Lightnin' and Ultra Twister that sped thrill seekers upside down through loops were popular.
But it's the 29-year-old Texas Cyclone that many Houstonians identify with AstroWorld. Patterned after the 1927 Coney Island Cyclone, the red, white and blue wooden structure can be seen from the 610 Loop.
Jeff Peden, a director at Cushman and Wakefield, the real estate company that will market the land, said there is no asking price for the 109-acre site, but he estimated that it will sell for $95 million to $145 million.
"We've seen properties close to here go for $25 to $35 per square foot," said Peden.
"Kirby and 610, that's a great address in Houston," said Todd Edmonds, senior vice president of the real estate company Colliers International.
Housing or office site?
Something of that size will probably become a mixed-use development, including multifamily housing, retail and office, said Edmonds, who described the property as one of the largest contiguous pieces of land near the Medical Center.
Harris County officials said they did not know that Six Flags would be putting AstroWorld on the market, but they were not completely surprised.
"The park seems to underperform in comparison to some of their other parks," said County Judge Robert Eckels.
Mike Surface, chairman of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park, said: "There have been discussions for years about the viability of that location. You have a park that was obviously an aged park and limited in space needed for expansion."
Surface estimated that the land along the Loop, Kirby and Fannin could be worth $1 million an acre and that non-frontage property might go for $600,000 an acre.
After AstroWorld closes, an investor will likely build an amusement park in the Houston-area suburbs, some said.
"There is strong market in Houston for this type of facility," Eckels said.
Six Flags will continue to have a presence in the Houston area with Six Flags SplashTown water park.
Six Flags recently sued the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., alleging that it had failed to honor a contractual provision that allowed the amusement park to extend an option on guaranteed parking at Reliant Park.
Six Flags' decades-long contract that provided it with parking in the southwest corner of Reliant Park expired in August.
The amusement park took the position that it had an option allowing it to extend the deal 30 years, Surface said.
The Sports & Convention Corp. said no such option existed.
The Sports & Convention Corp. would have continued to lease parking space to AstroWorld, Surface said. But it wanted to move AstroWorld's parking from the southwest corner of Reliant Park to the southeast corner for Texans' games and perhaps some Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo events, Surface and other county officials said.
Attempts to mediate the dispute failed Sept. 6.
Uncertainty over parking issues was not a major factor in the decision to sell, but was "a contributing factor," Dannhauser said.
"It caused us to invest less in the park than we might have done," he said, and gave the company an opportunity to stand back and assess the situation.
About 120 permanent jobs will be lost after the closure. The park employs about 1,500 seasonal workers.
Oct. 30 is final day
This month, AstroWorld is open Saturday and Sunday. From Oct. 7 -30, it will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The final day of operation is Oct. 30, the last day of Fright Fest.
Attendance has suffered at parks nationally as these amusement centers compete with other forms of entertainment, such as television and the Internet, said James Zoltak, editor of Amusement Business.
Shutting down the park will not hurt the city's economy much because many of the seasonal jobs paid little more than minimum wage, he said.
The bigger loss, he said, is that theme parks offer people a sense of nostalgia, with grandparents taking their grandchildren to their favorite rides.
"You lose something that has been part of the city's culture and psyche for a number of years," Zoltak said.
It's just a bit larger than one corner.
;)
I don't think you have the concept of the size of city blocks and corners in Texas.
For about three or four years, I got a Season Pass every year. My best friend (who also had a Season Pass) and I would beg our parents to take us down there every day during our summer vacation, and we could usually get either his folks or mine to drop us off there for the day.
We didn't have much money, and didn't really need money -- the rides were all free, and we could usually sweet talk our way to a few free snacks here and there from the park employees, who got to know us pretty well. If I recall correctly, there was also a little bakery near the entrance that sold mini-loaves of bread for 25 cents.
I remember the Texas Cyclone -- we were counting how many times we rode it at one point, but I eventually lost count somewhere in the 700's I think. We would get there early on a summer weekday, and there were no people waiting in line, so they'd let us ride it over and over again without getting off. When people did get in line, we'd get off, run down the ramp, and get right back in line again for the next one.
I remember watching them build Greezed Lightnin', and when it finally opened, how much fun it was to go from 0 to 60 in under four seconds for the first time, and the second time... and the 200th time.
I remember the River of No Return, the Alpine Sleigh Ride (which was so refreshing on those long, hot summer days), the Wacky Shack, the Barrel of Fun, the Black Dragon, the Bamboo Shoot, the Dexter Frebish Electric Roller Ride...
Wow, 'scuse me while I wax nostalgic.
I have no idea what you are talking about.
Why in the world would I bad mouth you?
Did they carry their $800 Louis Vuitton handbag they bought with their "debit cards" too?!
"It's time to close Astroworld. I understand there's lots of crime taking place there"
The last time I was there in the mid 80's, there was a fight and shooting at closing time. It was blamed on the concert. Trouble was though, the fight was among blacks, the concert was heavy metal. go figure
LOL!
I never did that.
umm...
Fifth Amendment!
"I didn't notice any gangsta activity..."
Thats because you were there in 1970.
RIP Astroworld. Went there about 30 years ago as a young kid. Had a great time. Just don't touch Six Flags Magic Mountain or Cedar Point and I'll be ok.
It's funny I was just looking at pics of Astroworld on the web and there were a few pics of kids holding basketballs.
Who brings a basketball to an amusement park? Is it a Houston thing or something?
Thank you for the memories.
Anyway, if you work 3 weeks, you get 8 free passes for friends and I just happened to have a bunch of friends coming into town the last day. At least it was fun riding everything after you stopped working.
I'll be your friend. :)
No, it is an "upbringing" thing.
Bangers raising bangers.
Check out Motown.
...the Black Dragon, the Bamboo Shoot, the Dexter Frebish Electric Roller Ride...
---
Those names bring back memories, especially the Alpine Sleigh Ride! Sorry to hear it's closing. I remember it back in the 1970's when it was fun and safe. Saw the Monkees with the opening act of Weird Al there in the 1980's, which I remember like yesterday. Last time I was there was in 1992 when I first met Weird Al Yankovic and his band.
The Alpine Sleigh Ride was my favorite. To be able to spend a few precious seconds inside those ice cold tunnels on a 95-degree day was worth the wait.
My memories were mostly of the 60s and 70s when I and the park were both much younger and more capable of entertaining each other. It is sad to hear it is getting torn down but I can understand it given some of the neighborhood issues and the fact that it wasn't being kept up.
When I heard the news today, I thought how much it would break Roy Hofheinz' heart if he were still alive. His Astrodome - the crown jewel of his life's work - nothing more than a homeless shelter while the amusement park he debuted with such hubris that he actaully tried to air condition the outdoors is ready to close for the last time.
I remember when the Astrodome and AstroWorld were perhaps the state's top tourist attraction. You never think you're going to outlive such things.
I loved going to Astroworld when I was growing up. It was one of the first places I wanted to take my children when we moved back to this area. My youngest was two. A woman tried to pull her off the kiddy car ride because her 7 year old daughter wanted my baby's seat. My husband intervened to come in between the woman and my screaming, terrified two year old. She then tracked down a police officer and tried to have him arrested for assault. Fortunately there were plenty of witnesses to confirm our side of the story. When she realized that the cop was not going to arrest him, she threatened me with bodily harm. We did not enjoy the rest of our day there too much. The only time I will go there now is on the homeschool day.
I won a contest around 1978 or so, first prize was a trip to Astro World, they flew the family there from CA. I vividly remember stepping off the plane into humidity I'd never experienced before or since. My kids were so puzzled as to why the windows in the hotel looked like it was raining outside when it wasn't. Don't remember much about the amusement park except that the food wasn't great. Visited the space center, Galveston, etc., overall a fun trip. But Disneyland and Knott's are hard acts to follow when one is from Southern CA.
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