An abandoned theme park provides the ultimate in ghostly echoes. Here at Six Flag New Orleans, where people once happily screamed as the roller coaster plunged or laughed as they plowed into each other in bumper cars, only graffiti and weeds still grow. The amusement park, originally named Jazzland, has languished to the degree that we featured it in our roundup of liminal images. But now, as reported by MSN, the theme park may finally get another chance at entertaining people.
Jazzland opened in 2000 with a wonderful New Orleans Mardi Gras theme. But within just several years, it closed its doors, a bankrupt company that failed to bring in enough customers to make things profitable. In 2003, it reopened as Six Flags New Orleans, with the hope that the experienced company could turn things around for the adorable 140-acre park. But Mother Nature had other plans.
In 2005, the park closed—temporarily, it was thought—because of a severe storm warning. The world knows what happened next: Hurricane Katrina. After Lake Pontchartrain burst its banks, its salty waters covered the entire park with 6 feet of water that remained for a month, destroying many rides that rusted underwater. In 2009, Six Flags paid New Orleans $3 million to get out of its 75-year lease. It’s estimated that restoring the park will cost $32 million, since around 80 percent of the rides can’t be fixed.
And that’s why the park has simply been left to decay for the last 18 years.
But the city of New Orleans is now working with a local developer who hopes to turn the park into a hotel, waterpark, sports complex and movie set. The park has already been featured in these movies: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jurassic World, Stolen, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, and Killer Joe. And more to the point, it’s the star of its own documentary, Closed for Storm.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that this cool destination is back in full force soon, even if in an altered form!