Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Ariz. town getting $800 million rock theme park

The official Web site of Eloy, Ariz., proclaims the town of 10,000 is "right in the heart of Arizona's future," and points to the town's library, two swimming pools and three recreation centers as some the community's amenities. That list might get a lot longer, thanks to a Phoenix group of investors who plan to open an $800 million rock-and -roll theme park outside the town in Pinal County by 2012, reports The Arizona Republic.

The project is called Decades Music Theme Park, and investors chose Eloy for its location near the junction of Interstates 8 and 10 and its relative proximity to metropolitan populations, reports Ronald J. Hansen. Eloy is 65 miles from downtown Phoenix and 60 miles from downtown Tucson. Peter Alexander, a former Disney Epcot project manager who consulted on the Decades project, told Hansen the new park could attract 5.4 million visitors each year.

According to the Web site of Decades, the park "will feature interconnected Lands and Districts that represent each decade of rock music – the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s in its first phase – with interactive thrill rides, live music and other attractions where audience members can step back in time to the sights and sounds of each era." Planned attractions include the Grand Funk Railroad, which will circle the park; a Mount Rushmore-style monument with busts of Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley; and an MTV arch a la the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The park still must clear some legal hurdles, including a change to Arizona's amusement park laws to give Pinal County bonding authority, but developers already have purchased the land needed for the 240-acre park. (Read more)

1 comment:

kinsey said...

Thanks to your input the Arizona State Senate
passed Senate Bill 1450 last week by a 17-11 vote. This will facilitate the construction and financing of Decades Music Theme Park here in
Arizona!

Now the bill goes to the Arizona House of Representatives and we need your help to get it passed there before it goes to the Governor's Desk.

All of this is happening quickly. Please email the following members of the Arizona House Commerce Committee today! We need a big victory there to keep the momentum going.

Their emails are below. Please include a subject line referencing
"Support for SB1450 and Decades Music Theme Park." Thank you for all
your support.

eableser@azleg.gov, kadams@azleg.gov, malvarez@azleg.gov, manderson@azleg.gov, rbarnes@azleg.gov, nbarto@azleg.gov,
abiggs@azleg.gov, tboone@azleg.gov, dbradley@azleg.gov, jbrown@azleg.gov, jburges@azleg.gov, ocajerobedford@azleg.gov,
chcampbell@azleg.gov, clcampbell@azleg.gov, tchabin@azleg.gov, dclark@azleg.gov, rcrandall@azleg.gov, scrump@azleg.gov,
mdesimone@azleg.gov, sfarley@azleg.gov, adriggs@azleg.gov, efarnsworth@azleg.gov, sgallardo@azleg.gov, mgarcia@azleg.gov,
tgroe@azleg.gov, phershberger@azleg.gov, jkavanagh@azleg.gov, bkonopnicki@azleg.gov, plopes@azleg.gov, llopez@azleg.gov,
dlujan@azleg.gov, lmason@azleg.gov, mmcclure@azleg.gov, jmccomish@azleg.gov, bmcguire@azleg.gov, nmclain@azleg.gov,
rmeza@azleg.gov, bmiranda@azleg.gov, rmurphy@azleg.gov, jnelson@azleg.gov, wnichols@azleg.gov, lpancrazi@azleg.gov,
jpaton@azleg.gov, rpearce@azleg.gov, tprezelski@azleg.gov, mreagan@azleg.gov, prios@azleg.gov, brobson@azleg.gov,
dschapira@azleg.gov, ksinema@azleg.gov, bstump@azleg.gov, jthrasher@azleg.gov, atobin@azleg.gov, atom@azleg.gov,
tulmer@azleg.gov, jpweiers@azleg.gov, syarbrough@azleg.gov, nyoungwright@azleg.gov, kschofield@roseandallynpr.com

Go to www.DecadesUSA.com for more information.