Many of the old rides from Miracle Strip amusement park in Panama City Beach, Florida, are due to by employed by another park in the same resort.
The new location will be Pier Park, a new shopping and dinning complex at Panama City.
The old Miracle Strip carousel was purchased and put in Pier Park over the summer, and some of the last remaining rides at the old strip will soon join it.
The Miracle Strip Amusement Park closed its doors in 2004, but a park is set to open in March 2010. The project is being developed by the Simon Property Group, which says the park will start out small but there are plans to expand once everything is up and running.
Buddy Wilkes, former general manager of Miracle Strip Amusement Park, recalls that three of the park’s rides were sold to the developers who bought the Miracle Strip Amusement Park land. These included a Chance carousel, a Zamperla Balloon Race and a bi-plane ride.
“Last summer in addition to the carousel there was a small rock climbing wall, a Eurobungy and a couple other small games,” reports Wilkes. “I wish the guy well, he does have a captive audience at Pier Park, but we do not have anything to do with this venture. We still maintain the Miracle Strip Corporation, and the name, so I’m not sure about the name.”
For now, it looks like the Simon Property Group is building a kiddie park. Any more than that, and Wilkes reckons they will have a lot of work on their hands: “If he pursues larger rides he’s going to need to have someone involved with ride operations, maintenance and safety. From what I know about the maintenance of these attractions, cost of replacement parts, liability, state laws and the local marketplace, the more he adds, the more difficult it will be to make the numbers work.”
