NEWS: Arnolds Park retracking the Legend Roller Coaster

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.ktiv.com/story/20222147/2012/11/29/arnolds-park-amusement-park-legend-roller-coaster-is-undergoing-some-renovations

 

They are replacing 575 linear feet of track and catwalk, along with adding several concrete footings just below the "Point of No Return" on the 86-year-old roller coaster.

 

They will also add evaluation of the wooden track and the structure that supports it.

 

During a survey done by Great Coasters International Incorporated, it was determined the coaster was in excellent shape and the overall ride quality would greatly improved.

 

The cost of the project is just over $250,000 and expect the first phase to be finished in the spring of 2013.

 

Edited January 31, 2014 by jedimaster1227

[ArundelHigh Coasters]

This is great news!, I can't wait to see how it turns out!

[Voxelmatic]

Why did I never know about this coaster until now? It looks pretty fun, and a GCI renovation could make it a lot better.

[beatle11]

Great news. Glad to see the park is still taking good care of the coaster.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Good. That ride's ground sections are horrible.

[Jew]

Another case of PTC's tearing a ride up?

[The Yeti]

Maybe it really needed it. I've ridden this ride, and boy does it give some wild airtime near the end in the last seat but it was rough airtime. I'd say the coaster is nothing to rave about, but I'm glad to see that the park is staying open and that their main attraction is still worth keeping after such a long life. I may make a trip back after the work is finished!

[jedimaster1227]

http://siouxcityjournal.com/warm-weather-moves-up-work-on-arnolds-park-coaster/article_7769941e-8263-56d6-8e0a-e30aeb3f7945.html

 

Unseasonably mild weather has allowed the maintenance crew at Arnolds Park amusement park to begin a $250,000 restoration of the historic Legend Roller Coaster. Work had been scheduled to start after winter.

 

"I'd rather work with a little snow, if need be, than the rains of spring," said park Maintenance Director Barry Kruse.

 

Crews are replacing 575 feet of track and catwalks on the attraction, along with other improvements. The 1,492-foot ride, constructed in 1927, is the 13th oldest operating wooden roller coaster in the U.S., according to park officials.

 

The project is needed to smooth the ride, said park General Manager Scott Pyle. "The wooden bed in the lower area has become compressed over the years. It doesn't have the give that was part of the original design,” he said.

 

Construction was scheduled to start in the months before the park’s opening, in mid-May. The timeline was shifted because of an unusually dry and warm fall. The region has had mostly above-average temperatures for the bulk of October, November and December, according to the National Weather Service.

 

On Monday, when temperatures hovered close to 60 degrees, workers scaled the coaster to pry its steel track from seven layers of the 2-inch wooden bed.

 

Other work will focus on raising low points on the track and replacing several concrete footings below the peak, called "The Point of No Return,” to make maintenance easier.

 

With the assistance of engineers who specialize in work on wooden coasters, the crew also is replacing steel supports added to reinforce old wood about 25 years ago.

 

"That steel didn't flex at all, which is what a wooden roller coaster is supposed to do," Pyle said.

 

The improvements were outlined in a study by Great Coasters International Inc., a Pennsylvania consulting firm and attraction manufacturer.

 

The changes affect about a third of the track and are the first in four planned projects over the next several years. Pyle said the coaster will be smoother and faster by opening day.

 

"This is a major expense on the amusement park's top ride," he said. "It's possibly more than it cost to build the coaster in the late 1920s."

[cal1br3tto]

I almost never hear anything about this ride. Glad the park is doing well enough to support such an extensive rehab. I'll try to hit up the place at some point, maybe combined with a return to Adventureland?

[jedimaster1227]

http://kiwaradio.com/local-news/arnolds-park-amusement-park-working-on-two-major-renovation-projects/

 

Although the Arnolds Park Amusement Park is closed for the season, there is much work that continues to be done for opening on May 17th.

 

According to Di Lorenzen, Marketing & Communications Manager for Arnolds Park, there are two major construction projects that guests will notice this coming May, The Legend Roller Coaster renovation and also the Majestic Pavilion.

 

The first one-third of the track was replaced last year, says Lorenzen. If you rode the Legend, you could feel where the new track ended and the old began, she says. It was decided at the end of the summer to complete the rest of the renovation.

 

According to Lorenzen, the tear down and footings were finished before Christmas. She says there will be 700 feet of track and structure being replaced, and most of that from the ground up. Scot Pyle, General Manager of Arnolds Park Amusement Park says that Great Coasters International returned on January 6th and have been working in the cold and windy conditions. They will complete final construction on this project by opening on May 17th.

 

Pyle says that they are excited to have this project completed this year. The total cost of the Legend Roller Coaster renovation project is nearly $1 million, but he says it’s a project that they felt they had to complete for their guests. He says the staff and Board worked very hard to budget for the construction to be completed this winter. He says they feel this project will bring in more customers to ride the renovated wooden coaster.

 

The other renovation project is the Majestic Pavilion, which many remember as the Majestic Roller Rink. Pyle says the park is very fortunate to have a donation from the Maser Family Foundation and matching grant from the Park Foundation to help with the Majestic Pavilion renovation project. He says they are working on phase one of this renovation this winter. There will be a new façade to give the front of the building an updated look, renovated restrooms, the first phase of a new caterer’s kitchen and they will enclose the Roof Garden.

 

Pyle says the second phase of the project will continue next fall and be completed by next spring. The first phase of the Majestic Pavilion project will be completed by this spring.

[cal1br3tto]

This park remains on my long-term wishlist, despite being stubbornly in the middle of nowhere. It looks like a charming place.

 

It can be interesting to ride a wooden coaster that's in the middle of an extensive renovation, or to ride it before and then after one. But ya can't get to them all. At least this one sounds like it really needed some smoothing out.

[DanTheBooker]

I almost never hear anything about this ride. Glad the park is doing well enough to support such an extensive rehab. I'll try to hit up the place at some point, maybe combined with a return to Adventureland?

Wait for VF's new coaster in 2016 (rumored), you'd have a nice trip to the three parks.

[Nrthwnd]

We rode this back in the late 1970s. It was great, then.

Good to hear it's getting some tracking love.

[triggernel]

This park remains on my long-term wishlist, despite being stubbornly in the middle of nowhere. It looks like a charming place.

 

You can say that again. Even when driving from Minneapolis to Branson/KC, and to St. Louis, it was still way the heck out of the way.

[_koppen]

Somehow I missed this, but I always love when parks take good care of their older rides.

[larrygator]

I really wanted to love this park when I visited a few years ago. But I didn't love the place, it was a little too run down for my liking. Legend was nothing to write home about.