News: Ghost Town enlists state to ensure safety

Posted at 4:52 PM EST (2152 GMT)

Feb. 16th, 2007 -- Today the owners of Ghost Town in the Sky entered into a partnership with the North Carolina Department of Labor to monitor each step of the renovations taking place at the Maggie Valley theme park.

Inspectors will periodically make visits in the coming months to ensure all facilities and rides are safe and up to code as the park works towards its May 25 re-opening.

Tommy Petty with the N.C. Department of Labor was quoted saying: “Everything you see when you go up there will be new or repaired and replaced down to the bare metal”.

Petty said that the department had to shut down Ghost Town’s incline railway and chair lift and a few rides during the park’s previous operation because equipment was worn out or unsafe.

Ghost Town’s new owner Hank Woodburn said he consulted with state inspectors from the beginning, requesting their input about previous problems involving the park’s chair lift and some of the rides before buying the park. Before the re-opening he said workers would X-ray the roller coaster and fit it with new controls and sensors, add a new top and bottom station for the chair lift and complete a host of other renovations.

For more information, visit The Haywood County News.