Hard Rock Park Falls on Deaf Ears
Monday January 5, 2009
It took seven years and $400 million to build it. And it took five months for Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to post dismal attendance, blow through its line of credit, rack up insurmountable debt, close its gates, and declare bankruptcy. Amazingly, a December auction yielded no bidders--even at the bargain-basement asking price of $35 million. Now, the hard-up Hard Rock is seeking permission to file for Chapter 7 and liquidate its assets. The giant Les Paul guitar, the Zippo-toting Statue of Liberty, the Led Zeppelin coaster, and all of the park's other items may be sold piece by piece. Frankly, the whole saga dumbfounds me.
If you want to get a glimpse of how something that seemed so right could go so horribly wrong, tune in this Friday, January 9 at 8 p.m. to Colossal Construction: Hard Rock Park on Discovery's Science Channel. It's sure to be a surreal program. According to the cable network's synopsis, it seems the show will focus on whether construction delays would prevent the innovative park from opening on time. As it turns out, that was the least of the doomed park's problems. Your thoughts? Click on "Comments" below.
- A Profile of the Failed Hard Rock Park
- Soft Economy Crumbles Hard Rock- The beginning of the end for the park.
Comments
Hard Rock Park was a mistake from the beginning. Most people who come to Myrtle Beach want family oriented entertainment not old drug-addicted bands. The park itself was built by the side of a road and did not utilize all the space it could have to be a spectacular park. It was built on the ruins of another “good idea” Fantasy Harbour which boasted theatres for the Gatlin Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, an Ice Show and a Russian Circus. All of those are gone now - the theatres turned into churches. The only thing that remains is Medieval Times. Not much to show for a place that was going to be the next Branson, MO.
Really sad. I had high hopes for this park, the incredible mix of theme park and music venue seemed like a winning combination. Hard Rock Park will be missed (by me anyway).
Rich, it will be missed by me as well–especially the incredible Nights in White Satin attraction designed by Sally Corporation. (Rich Hill is a designer at Sally.)
-Arthur
This is too bad. I’m a Florida guy myself, but I would of gone to Myrtle Beach to visit this place. I just saw the Science Channel program about it and it seems like they rushed in to it. They only gave those guys a year to build it. They should have took their time and made it bigger and better instead of having it look like a “permanent carnival”. If you’re going to build amusement park these days, you need to compete with Busch Gardens, Six Flags, Universal, Disney, etc. That only means building everything bigger and better than what people are used to. Also, they didn’t advertise enough. I didn’t even hear about this place until just now after they closed down.
I was channel surfing and saw the show on discovery, I thought that would be a cool place to see. I looked on line and found out that it was opened and is know closed. What a short life. I agree there was not enough advertising. We vacation in NC and are always looking for a day trip. I never saw anything advertised all summer. It’s too bad things didn’t work out.
i agree toobad - we went there last April for their “soft” opening and were impressed with what was open at the time and were looking forward to going back this April for the full park look.
the Led Zep ride was a fantastic coaster ride…
I am most disappointed, just heard the Park is now closed. I was hoping to visit this spring/summer. Really wasn’t given much of a chance……
Hang on Lynn! Check this out:
http://themeparks.about.com/b/2009/02/16/hard-rock-park-not-fade-away.htm
I think people like Lisa need to go to Disney World.It’s about time there is a theme park that can be enjoyed by adults.I have a teenage daughter and she loved the park and has been so sad to see it close.See my daughter has parents that are not closed minded and appreciate the history of rock-n-roll.Hard Rock Park is the only theme park that can be enjoyed by the young and old.I’m glad to hear that it may stay open.We’ll be there in summer ‘09.
Signed,
Cool Mom
We were planning of visiting for spring break from Michigan. We cancelled our reservation (in December) and booked elsewhere when we couldn’t get any confirmation on the parks opening date. I have to wonder how many others did the same? Wish they could have given it at least one more year. For those of us driving south for spring break Myrtle Beach is a great location and this park was a great plus.