News: Ghost Town in the Sky to reopen May 2007

Posted at 9:49 PM EDT (0149 GMT)

Aug. 15th, 2006 -- Updated August 16, 2006.  See additional news link at bottom of story.

Ghost Town in the Sky will no longer be a ghost town if the new owners have everything go as planned.  The park has been closed since 2001, but the new owners plan a May 2007 reopening.

Those interested may visit the park on Monday from Noon to 4:30 p.m. to hear future plans for the theme park.   Live music, clogging and staged gunfights as well as food concessions will be available for those attending.  Children are welcome to attend also.

Transportation to the top of the mountain will be provided by buses and vans.  Anyone that wishes to attend will need to park at the Ghost Town parking lot and board buses there, beginning at Noon.

The park will be under new ownership and will feature many of the original attractions patrons came to know and love as well as live-actions shows.

The new owners will spend over $4 million preparing the park for it’s grand reopening.  This investment will include a new chair lift and a refurbished incline railway as well as other general and historical improvements to the 99 acre park.

Ghost Town’s re-opening will create 285 full and part-time jobs in addition to the jobs created from refurbishing the park.

Long-term plans include the addition of a water park, retail outlets, condominiums and potential home sites as well.

The officers of the new company will be Allen and Carol Harper, owners of Bryson City-based Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado and Hank Woodburn, founder and president of Adventure Landing, which owns and operates nine family entertainment centers in New York, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.

With so many small parks going under these days, it is nice to see a small park make a comeback.

For more information on this story please visit HAYWOOD COUNTY NEWS and SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS.