Breaking News! Nickelodeon Theme Park? We shall see...I hope this gets done but we know how things work down here...
www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2009/08/nickelodeon_to_build_theme_par.html
Nickelodeon to build theme park at old Six Flags site in eastern New Orleans
Published: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 11:44 AM Updated: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 12:39 PM
By Martha Carr, The Times-Picayune
Flanked by Mayor Ray Nagin and City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, Nickelodeon officials today announced they plan to build a theme park at the abandoned Six Flags site in eastern New Orleans, starting this fall and opening by late 2010.
In July, the Baton Rouge firm Southern Star Amusement applied for $100 million in bonds for the project. Southern Star plans to partner with Nickeodeon on the deal, with Nickelodeon lending its considerable marketing muscle to the venture.
Officials from the two firms this morning sketched out a vision of a revitalized park that contains a mixture of rollercoasters and other traditional amusement-park fare with water-themed rides.
In an application to the Industrial Development Board for Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds, Southern Star said it wanted the bonds to restore existing buildings and major pieces of equipment at Six Flags, which has not reopened since being damaged in Hurricane Katrina.
Later today, officials from Nickelodeon and Southern Star are scheduled to appear before the IDB in support of their bond application. At the announcement this morning, they indicated that the viability of the project -- which they described as a $165 million deal -- is largely contingent on approval of the bond application.
David Grunfeld / The Times-PicayuneSix Flags under water during Hurricane Katrina 2005. Nickelodeon plans to build at new theme park at the site, shuttered since the storm.