- October 6th, 2004, 7:40 pm
#8302
From <a href='http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/10_04/10_06_04/fr_group_ghost_town.html' target='_blank'>Smoky Mountain News.com</a>
A group of business leaders in Maggie Valley has formed a non-profit corporation dedicated to reopening Ghost Town, an amusement park that served as a premier tourist attraction in Western North Carolina for four decades.
The non-profit group is seeking more than $70,000 in grants and private funds to develop a business plan for the old theme park in the hopes of attracting a buyer. If a buyer doesn’t surface, leaders of the group hope to buy and operate the attraction themselves, switching the Old West motif for an Appalachian and Cherokee cultural theme.
“The plan is to get the doors reopen by any means,†said Wade Reece, operator of Quality Inn and leader of the new non-profit called GHOST, or Greater Haywood Opportunities for Supporting Tourism.
The park drew tens of thousands of visitors a week during its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. After a decade of gradual decline in the 1990s — due both to aging infrastructure and an aging owner/operator — Ghost Town closed two years ago. Businesses in Maggie Valley are suffering from lost revenue, scaling back employees, and in some cases closing.
“Every weekend I get 20 or 30 people who come up to the front desk and ask what time Ghost Town opens,†said Reece. Upset families pledge not to return to Maggie. Every lodging, restaurant and shop owner in Maggie Valley shares a similar story.
“Things are not good in Maggie Valley,†Reece said. Reece said it is “imperative†Ghost Town reopen.
Tammy Brown, public relations director of Cataloochee Ski Area who is involved in the effort, said reopening Ghost Town is not just a Maggie Valley priority.
“Everybody in the region will benefit,†Brown said. “We didn’t want to be sitting here in June of next year thinking about why we didn’t do something.â€
The group has been lobbying leaders in economic development circles both regionally and statewide. Efforts to reopen Ghost Town deserve the same assistance and incentives that are traditionally granted to the manufacturing industry, the group says.
To legitimize its claims, the GHOST is conducting an economic impact study in conjunction with the business plan. The study will show the ripple effect throughout the region’s economy if Ghost Town stays closed.
Ideally, the business plan and due diligence would show a prospective buyer that buying and reopening Ghost Town is a viable and lucrative proposition. The business plan will calculate the amount of repairs required to get the old rides safe and functional and other start-up costs necessary to get the park open. The plan will also project revenue and number of visitors over the next five years. Reece said GHOST would then be able to hand a private investor the plan, along with due diligence such as surveys and other legwork.
If that doesn’t work, GHOST will try to raise funds through grants and private donations and open the theme park as a regional cooperative effort. The economic impact study being conducted in conjunction with the business plan will hopefully inspire the region to rally behind the cause, Reece and Brown said.
“We might buy it, we might assist in buying it. Right now, we are doing the due diligence,†Reece said.
If GHOST ultimately buys and runs the amusement park as a non-profit, all the money generated by the park would be returned to the community in the form of promoting Haywood County, Reece said. Reece said several private business owners are willing to invest in the project and many others are willing to donate money to the cause as their business success hinges on it.
GHOST is seeking economic development funds from the North Carolina Rural Center and Advantage West to conduct the economic study and business plan. Advantage West is a regional economic development organization that primarily focuses on manufacturing. The group is also exploring grants or other assistance from the Golden Leaf Foundation and the Haywood Advancement Foundation.
Among those GHOST has consulted with about the project is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Western Carolina University Center for Regional Development, the Haywood County Economic Development Commission, the regional tourism cooperative Smoky Mountain Host, and county attorney Chip Killian who is a General Assembly lobbyist.
Reece and Brown said GHOST’s plan could be compared to the acquisition of the old Dayco manufacturing site by Haywood Advancement Foundation. Haywood Advancement Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to creating jobs in Haywood County, traditionally through recruitment and support of manufacturing industry. The group received $1.3 million in local tax dollars from the county and town of Waynesville to buy the old Dayco plant so it could be marketed. The old plant once employed more than 1,000 people but was sitting idle in private hands.
Haywood Advancement spent two years trying to recruit a manufacturing industry to operate the plant, but realized there were no takers in today’s new economy. Now a deal is pending with a national retail center developer. Whether Haywood Advancement will return the county’s and town’s tax money upon selling the site is still a matter of debate.
R.B. Coburn, 84, started Ghost Town in 1960 and ran it for most of the 42 years it was in business. Coburn was trying to sell the park for several years while it was still in operation. The park comprises 250 acres. Coburn was initially seeking $8 million, but it is unknown whether he has lowered the price.
Prospective buyers this time last year included a resort real estate developer, the owner of Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and two local politicians and hotel owners — Mayor Jo Pinter and Alderwoman Linda Taylor — wanting to create a religious theme park. Both Al Harper of Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and Pinter and Taylor are supportive of the GHOST effort, according to Brown.
I do hope they get this quirky little park back open. It's been a landmark in the area since the 60s.
A group of business leaders in Maggie Valley has formed a non-profit corporation dedicated to reopening Ghost Town, an amusement park that served as a premier tourist attraction in Western North Carolina for four decades.
The non-profit group is seeking more than $70,000 in grants and private funds to develop a business plan for the old theme park in the hopes of attracting a buyer. If a buyer doesn’t surface, leaders of the group hope to buy and operate the attraction themselves, switching the Old West motif for an Appalachian and Cherokee cultural theme.
“The plan is to get the doors reopen by any means,†said Wade Reece, operator of Quality Inn and leader of the new non-profit called GHOST, or Greater Haywood Opportunities for Supporting Tourism.
The park drew tens of thousands of visitors a week during its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. After a decade of gradual decline in the 1990s — due both to aging infrastructure and an aging owner/operator — Ghost Town closed two years ago. Businesses in Maggie Valley are suffering from lost revenue, scaling back employees, and in some cases closing.
“Every weekend I get 20 or 30 people who come up to the front desk and ask what time Ghost Town opens,†said Reece. Upset families pledge not to return to Maggie. Every lodging, restaurant and shop owner in Maggie Valley shares a similar story.
“Things are not good in Maggie Valley,†Reece said. Reece said it is “imperative†Ghost Town reopen.
Tammy Brown, public relations director of Cataloochee Ski Area who is involved in the effort, said reopening Ghost Town is not just a Maggie Valley priority.
“Everybody in the region will benefit,†Brown said. “We didn’t want to be sitting here in June of next year thinking about why we didn’t do something.â€
The group has been lobbying leaders in economic development circles both regionally and statewide. Efforts to reopen Ghost Town deserve the same assistance and incentives that are traditionally granted to the manufacturing industry, the group says.
To legitimize its claims, the GHOST is conducting an economic impact study in conjunction with the business plan. The study will show the ripple effect throughout the region’s economy if Ghost Town stays closed.
Ideally, the business plan and due diligence would show a prospective buyer that buying and reopening Ghost Town is a viable and lucrative proposition. The business plan will calculate the amount of repairs required to get the old rides safe and functional and other start-up costs necessary to get the park open. The plan will also project revenue and number of visitors over the next five years. Reece said GHOST would then be able to hand a private investor the plan, along with due diligence such as surveys and other legwork.
If that doesn’t work, GHOST will try to raise funds through grants and private donations and open the theme park as a regional cooperative effort. The economic impact study being conducted in conjunction with the business plan will hopefully inspire the region to rally behind the cause, Reece and Brown said.
“We might buy it, we might assist in buying it. Right now, we are doing the due diligence,†Reece said.
If GHOST ultimately buys and runs the amusement park as a non-profit, all the money generated by the park would be returned to the community in the form of promoting Haywood County, Reece said. Reece said several private business owners are willing to invest in the project and many others are willing to donate money to the cause as their business success hinges on it.
GHOST is seeking economic development funds from the North Carolina Rural Center and Advantage West to conduct the economic study and business plan. Advantage West is a regional economic development organization that primarily focuses on manufacturing. The group is also exploring grants or other assistance from the Golden Leaf Foundation and the Haywood Advancement Foundation.
Among those GHOST has consulted with about the project is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Western Carolina University Center for Regional Development, the Haywood County Economic Development Commission, the regional tourism cooperative Smoky Mountain Host, and county attorney Chip Killian who is a General Assembly lobbyist.
Reece and Brown said GHOST’s plan could be compared to the acquisition of the old Dayco manufacturing site by Haywood Advancement Foundation. Haywood Advancement Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to creating jobs in Haywood County, traditionally through recruitment and support of manufacturing industry. The group received $1.3 million in local tax dollars from the county and town of Waynesville to buy the old Dayco plant so it could be marketed. The old plant once employed more than 1,000 people but was sitting idle in private hands.
Haywood Advancement spent two years trying to recruit a manufacturing industry to operate the plant, but realized there were no takers in today’s new economy. Now a deal is pending with a national retail center developer. Whether Haywood Advancement will return the county’s and town’s tax money upon selling the site is still a matter of debate.
R.B. Coburn, 84, started Ghost Town in 1960 and ran it for most of the 42 years it was in business. Coburn was trying to sell the park for several years while it was still in operation. The park comprises 250 acres. Coburn was initially seeking $8 million, but it is unknown whether he has lowered the price.
Prospective buyers this time last year included a resort real estate developer, the owner of Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and two local politicians and hotel owners — Mayor Jo Pinter and Alderwoman Linda Taylor — wanting to create a religious theme park. Both Al Harper of Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and Pinter and Taylor are supportive of the GHOST effort, according to Brown.
I do hope they get this quirky little park back open. It's been a landmark in the area since the 60s.
