Bell's may be in trouble.

[Shavethewhales]

Well, it's been forever since I gave an update here.

 

The current status of the park is great - well, per the situation at hand anyway. Bell's had extended to them a massive helping hand today. The Tulsa Steel Services Company came to Robbie Bell and offered a full day of services, equipment, and tools for absolutely no cost. In one day, a massive portion of the famous White Lightnin log flume was taken down, enabling Bell's to come very close to the May 15 deadline of having half of both the log flume and Zingo taken down. If this next deadline is reached, they will have an extra month. Needless to say, this isn't very much time at all, and Robbie admits these deadline would never be met without help like this. Let's all give TSS a big hand, you just don't see incredible acts of kindness coming from many corporations these days. As far as Bell's overall future goes, it remains somewhat uncertain, but Robbie Bell has been scouring northeastern OK for a new location, and he's bound to pick one soon, if he doesn't die from all this hard work.

 

Read the full report here - http://www.kotv.com/news/topstory/?id=126201

[Jeezus Juice]

Phantasmagoria smells like pee.

[snuggles]

That is a huge act of kindness! By northeastern Oklahoma, does he mean the extreme northeast parts, or still near tulsa?

[Shavethewhales]

^Apparently they've been talking to communities right up next to the MO border and even into other surrounding states. I think his heart is set on south Tulsa though. I'll bet at this point that Robbie does in fact have a plan and a location picked out for the park's future, but he just won't tell yet.

[Shavethewhales]

Check it out!!! -> http://www.bellsfamilyfun.com/

 

On Bell's website it says that they will be announcing their new location and future plans soon! This means that the 'Bell's 2.0' plans will indeed become a reality! I'm... so... happy... right now.

[snuggles]

Yay!

It will be pretty cool when they reopen, everything will be like new again. (kind of). Hopefully they will stay in the tri-state area. (kansas, missouri, northeast oklahoma) I would cream my jeans if they moved it to Kansas

[carolinacaniac]

this will be great for anyone wanting to ride Zingo and other Bell's rides. I hope that robbie and crew will do well at their new location.

[Shavethewhales]

I've got another batch of photos on my site here - http://www.superstevessupersite.com/park_galleries/bells/bells5_9_07/bells5_9_07.html

all are courtesy of a reader of my site.

 

It looks as if more has been done than I thought. The log flume's trough is completely gone, and only a few slender supports remain of the flume's structure. It's amazing to think that the 50ft drop was taken down completely over the course of one day.

 

As far as Zingo goes, it looks like the entire back run is gone - structure and all. More importantly though, the big stuff is starting to come down as most of the turnaround is already gone. I thought they had been slacking before, but the cranes have arrived and they are getting the job done.

 

Looks like the May 15th deadline won't be a problem. I expect the announcement of the park's relocation will come anytime around then.

Still desolate, the grass is making a comeback.

It's all gone, only a couple of supports and the mountain tunnel remain. I hope they have a new mountain on the rebuilt flume.

Check out how much of the turnaround is missing.

[snuggles]

Too bad Bell's had to be removed because of the super high demand for parking. There is a good side to this move, because bell's won't be so shoehorned, and be able to expand even more.

[Shavethewhales]

In case any of you haven't heard, the park has been given $200,000 from the fair board for the hiring of a private firm to come in and take the rest of the Zingo down, so that it can be gone by the June 15 deadline. Bell's had simply asked that the fair delay at least partially its all-important parking lot plans for all of two weeks so that they could finish the job themselves, but the fair came to the conclusion that the parking lot just couldn't wait a whole two weeks, so they decided to waste even more tax-payer dollars. This better be one nice parking lot.

How much does a 10 acre parking lot cost? It seems like at $200,000, they're doubling the expense of the project.

 

Anyway, at least Bell's has some more money and Zingo is safer than ever. At this point the park should begin to feel pretty secure as almost all of their rides are safe and ready to be put up again, so I'm thinking we'll be hearing that announcement soon. It looks like the only things that will be lost in all of this are the Chili Pepper water slides, which were fun and will be missed, but aren't worth crying over.

 

Here's a few recent pics, courtesy of one of my site's readers:

Here's the Chili Peppers. Sadly, it looks like these won't be making it to the new park; the parking lot just can't wait.

Here's some of the old track bed, which is being chopped up and thrown out. The new Zingo will have all new track, maybe from GCII?

It's hard to see through the trees, but about half of the turnaround is still there.

This is what's left of the third hill, the same hill that dives under the Joker tunnel.

Only the lift hill and first turnaround of the Zingo remain on the south end of the park.

[snuggles]

Such high demand for parking that will be used SO much!

My bet is that the people of tulsa won't want anything to do with the fair, now that they pretty much have no big draw at the fair (zingo) and go to bell's instead.

[winningfreak]

Such high demand for parking that will be used SO much!

My bet is that the people of tulsa won't want anything to do with the fair, now that they pretty much have no big draw at the fair (zingo) and go to bell's instead.

 

 

I dont get it. Why would the fair want to drive somthing thats bringing in people out? That leaves less customers to the fair....

[snuggles]

I can guarantee the for at least 330 days of the year, this mega-parking lot will go unused.

[Shavethewhales]

Once again, a reader of my site was kind enough to send in some photos of Bell's progress.

 

The lift is going down fast, it might even be down by this evening or early tomorrow. The only other things left are half of the third hill and half of the turnaround.

 

I'm really glad Bell's got that extra boost in funds; I don't believe in corporate welfare, but Bell's has a huge debt owned to them from the fair, and they really needed the funds. Without Zingo, the entire relocation project probably would have crashed. I'm thinking that announcement will come right about the time the last pieces of Zingo reach safety.

 

Here's the photos:

This'll be all that's left once they finish the lift. If they keep moving at this pace, it'll be down by early next week at the latest.

Here you can see all of what is left. It might seem like a lot, but there's really not that much there.

I'm going to miss driving by this...

Both cranes are working the lift. From what I was told they were going at a very hasty pace.