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.
Done, but I promised some never to use that as a ping list so I don't consider it as such. More like "a list of FReepers who 'get it'."
The first or second rally? I think you were the guy drinking beer with humblegunner at the second one, right?
There goes a whole childhood full of memories. I remember being a kid in the early 70s riding in the back of the car as Mom and Dad drove to AstroWorld from Sulphur, LA. Every summer for years.
Then we moved to League City which was only about a half hour from AstroWorld. Summer passes for two or three years straight. Getting dropped off with friends. Texas Cyclone, Excalibur, Greased Lightning (which came about the time I stopped going).
Then moving back to Houston during college--getting stuck on some ride upside down for an hour while some 18 year old with bad acne tried to figure out which button to push to call a supervisor... The first time I was ever sunburned under my chin.
Where else can I get an Invisible Dog or get stuck on the walls of the Barrel?
Oh, well. Progress...
Yep. I was wearing the bright yellow t-shirt.
I am trying to think of a time when I was with humblegunner and booze wasn't involved. Maybe he can remember a time, if it has ever happened.
LOL!
Cheers!
I think the water ride was the Bamboo Shoot. I LOVED Astroworld. I went there in jr. high, but went there with my high school boyfriend in 1975 on the first out-of-town date I was allowed to go on. LOL.
I don't think its ever happened yet.
I had to think about that one for a few minutes, too.
I remember: my Grandparents taking me when I was 8 years old in 1968.
1. Throwing up on the Barrel of Fun (Barrel of Barf) :)
2. Riding the "River of No Return"
3. Riding the Astro Needle
4. My first ride on the Texas Cyclone in High School.
5. Taking my little girl to ride on the Carousel...
Thanks for the memories, Astroworld. You will always be in my heart!
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