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By Lookout Staff
May 30 -- The big new $1.5 million Pacific Wheel
was the shining star Thursday night as it took its first public
spin during a festive bash on the Santa Monica Pier.
Partygoers who flocked to the two-acre seaside park were
treated to a dynamic, eye-popping computer-generated display,
as the state-of-the-art Ferris wheel filled the night sky
with the glow from 160,000 energy-efficient LED lights.
A fireworks display helped usher in a new era and capped
a month of work that saw crews dismantle the old wheel and
begin unpacking and installing its replacement, which was
manufactured by Chance Morgan Rides Manufacturing Inc. in
Wichita, Kansas.
Fireworks light up the sky during the lighting ceremony
of the new Pacific Park Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier
May 28, 2008. (REUTERS/Stefano Paltera)
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 Dan
Light, customer service representative from Chance Rides Manufacturing,
Inc., works on dismantling the Pacific Wheel on Wednesday, May
7, 2008. (Photos by FabianLewkowicz.com) |
The old 90-foot tall, 122,000-pound wheel --
which appeared in more than 105 photo shoots, 71 television
commercials, 69 television shows, 28 feature films and 13
music videos -- was shipped to Oklahoma, after a real estate
developer in the Sooner state picked it up on eBay for $132,400.
In its 12 years, the giant wheel – which featured 20
gondolas with a maximum six riders per car -- provided more
than 3 million rides, Pacific park officials said. The new
wheel has comparable rider capacity and mechanical specifications,
park they said.
Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, LA’s only admission
free amusement park, offers 12 amusement rides, 21 midway
games and an oceanfront food plaza. For information and hours
of operation, call (310) 260-8744 or visit pacpark.com.
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| Dan Light (L), customer service representative form Chance
Rides Manufacturing, Inc., Jim Quaintance (C), Maintenance Manager
of Pacific Park and Jeff Sicat (R), Pacific Park Maintenance
Supervisor, unload the new Ferris Wheel from a semi-truck on
Monday, May 5, 2008. (Photos by FabianLewkowicz.com) |
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| Pacific Park’s maintenance team installs the Pacific
Wheel’s new axle and hub on Friday, May 16, 2008. (Photos
by FabianLewkowicz.com) |
| Pacific Wheel Ferris wheel Gondolas stacked
neatly in a row awaiting installation on the all-new Ferris
wheel assembled in the background on Tuesday, May 20. (Photos
by FabianLewkowicz.com) |
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Dana Wyatt, Director of Operations & Security
at Pacific Park goes up on the boom lift to the center of the
wheel to connect the lighting control box on Sunday, May 25,
2008. (Photos by FabianLewkowicz.com) |
| California first lady Maria Shriver, right,
accompanied by her son Christopher Shriver Schwarzenegger, 10,
second from right, and his friends, enjoy their first ride on
the new Pacific Park Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier in
California Wednesday, May 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera) |
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