Jump to content

New Theme Park for Michigan?

GaryP

By GaryP
in Michigan

Recommended Posts

GaryP Burg

GaryP

Posted
Posted

A Michigan company

wants to turn 1,800 acres of state-owned

land near Grayling into a $160 million

theme park called Main Street USA.

Documents show the company wants

to construct a theme park that would

employ up to 2,000 people seasonally

and 700 year-round. It could draw up to

1.7 million visitors a year.

Cedar Point drew 3.1 million visitors

last year to Erie County, Ohio. A report

commissioned by the Ohio tourism bureau

showed travelers spent about $1.5

billion in Erie County in 2004.

Closer to home, Michigan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 37
  • Created
  • Last Reply
wolverine Town

wolverine

Posted
Posted

If it makes itself a destination then it could be profitable. Keep in mind, a lot people would be heading or coming back from Mackinac Island. There's also places like Traverse City and the U/P where people like to vacation. If Frankenmuth can do it as a "on the way destination," then so can this theme park. Which btw, this would really make I-75 a robust tourism corridor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Rapidian Whistle-Stop

Grand Rapidian

Posted
Posted

Cedar Point owns Michigan Adventure and, if I am not mistaken, is to turn it into a park as large as or larger than Cedar Point because Cedar Point is running out of space and Michigan Adventure has a big land area to work with.

I would say good luck to any northern theme park if this comes to fruition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wolverine Town

wolverine

Posted
Posted

I don't think people still get it. This isn't about being central in the state of Michigan, but have it be accessible to people throughout the midwest. And where do most non-michigan residents visit around here? Up North of course. They are taking I-75 and hitting up Birch Run, Frankenmuth, and other area attractions before finally reaching Traverse City and Mackinac Island. Yes, there is I-94 but it isn't representative enough of the natural landscapes of the North where there are so many other attractions nearby. Additonally, people arent going to Lansing or Jackson. Michigan attractions work in a sequence unless their target visitors are more local (statewide) residents, like Michigan Adventure. So in order for this park to be successful, it must be located somewhere along the I-75 corridor. This was studied extensively when Six Flags was going to build a Park in Saginaw County.

Although there's always a chance this will never happen, I think people need to understand that a developer that is going to invest $160 million isn't going to do this on a whim. There will be extensive feasibilty studies and examinations of local and regional economies that would be necessary to support this. I think it's important that we wait for more facts and numbers before any assumptions are made.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Phizzy Hamlet

Phizzy

Posted
Posted
Cedar Point owns Michigan Adventure and, if I am not mistaken, is to turn it into a park as large as or larger than Cedar Point because Cedar Point is running out of space and Michigan Adventure has a big land area to work with.
If Cedar Fair is growing Michigan's Adventure to the size of Cedar Point, they're certainly taking their time. They've only been adding a couple of fairly small attractions each year...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jbr12 Hamlet

jbr12

Posted
Posted

Yes, Cedar FAIR is the owner of Michigan's Adventure.... Also the owner of Cedar Point...

The current Michigan's Adventure park only takes up something like one-third of the total land owned by the park... Their long term goals include ading alot more rides, large-resort style hotels and condominiums. Up to this point, MA has been running from a well, but recently the city approved them connecting to the city water supply. I believe this is going to fuel the expansion of the park

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

I think for West Michiganians, Grayling is kind of an nowheresville because it's not along either US-31 or 131. I've probably only been there twice in my life, and that was when I was a kid growing up in Lansing.

Most people on the East side of the State take I-75 North, so Grayling is a regular sight and does not seem like "where???" :huh:

"Theme Park" could be a lot of things. It doesn't say "Amusement Park" necessarily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GaryP Burg

GaryP

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the articles phizzy

I think for West Michiganians, Grayling is kind of an nowheresville because it's not along either US-31 or 131. I've probably only been there twice in my life, and that was when I was a kid growing up in Lansing.

Most people on the East side of the State take I-75 North, so Grayling is a regular sight and does not seem like "where???" :huh:

"Theme Park" could be a lot of things. It doesn't say "Amusement Park" necessarily.

It does say 1.7 Million visitors/year. That's more than half of the visitors to Cedar Point in a year. What kind of impact will that have on a city Grayling's size? Does anyone know where the 1800 Acres of state owned land is in location to the city?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the articles phizzy

It does say 1.7 Million visitors/year. That's more than half of the visitors to Cedar Point in a year. What kind of impact will that have on a city Grayling's size? Does anyone know where the 1800 Acres of state owned land is in location to the city?

One of the articles mentioned it's industrial zoned land right along I-75.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Phizzy Hamlet

Phizzy

Posted
Posted

One of the articles mentioned it's industrial zoned land right along I-75.
Yea, somewhere in the vinicity of the red circle on the map below, a few miles south of Grayling. Not sure if it is east or west of I-75, but it is in that area.

21owlqp.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vexom Unincorporated Area

vexom

Posted
Posted

Cedar Point owns Michigan Adventure and, if I am not mistaken, is to turn it into a park as large as or larger than Cedar Point because Cedar Point is running out of space and Michigan Adventure has a big land area to work with.

I would say good luck to any northern theme park if this comes to fruition.

I hate to refute especially with a fellow grand rapidian but as an enthusiast and interested investor I just happen to know a lot about Cedar Fair, probably too much. I don't think Cedar Fair has any intention of making Michigan Adventures anywhere near the park that Cedar Point is. With the recent acquisition of Paramounts parks including Kings Island, Cedar Fair now owns 12 amusement parks and 5 water parks. Of all the parks Michigan Adventures has the lowest yearly attendance. They certainly plan to expand other parks including Michigan Adventures but I think they are starting to focus more on regions they don't completely control already such as the west and east coasts. Also Cedar Point will remain there trademark park for many years to come, there building a new coaster this year and continue to hold records as the top rated and one of the largest amusement parks in the world. On the positive side though Michigan Adventures has Grand Rapids this year which is their single largest ride investment ever, they had record attendance last year, and with the threat of another park in Michigan Cedar Fair will certainly continue to expand the park.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hudkina Burg

hudkina

Posted
Posted

Exactly. Cedar Fair bought Michigan's Adventure to remove any possible competition. Of course the park will become bigger and better over the years, but will do so on a much smaller scale than Cedar Point. Think Worlds of Fun, Valley Fair, or Dorney Park. Eventually Michigan's Adventure will get the powerhouse coasters, but it will never become Cedar Fair's flagship park.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
graylingnative Crossroads

graylingnative

Posted
Posted

What most of you haven't heard, that I have being from Grayling, is that this is not going to be just another theme park. They are talking large resorts, shopping, and the Park is said to be an indoor, year round park. There is word that the idea came from a booming indoor park in China and that there is none other like it in the world. Therefore, Cedar Point and Michigan Adventure would be very different. When Grayling is busy during the winter months with their snowmobile tourism, so will the indoor park. I think it's a great idea and will not only benefit Grayling tremendously, but the entire state. That is why Granholm is said to announce this at a large event. She is hoping it will boost her votes as bringing growth to the state.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wolverine Town

wolverine

Posted
Posted

This DEFINITELY will benefit the entire state. As I said, it will greatly improve the I-75 tourism corridor. I just hope they aren't going DestiNY_USA on this..although that place was/is costing billions

BTW, I'm going to merge this with the other thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

What most of you haven't heard, that I have being from Grayling, is that this is not going to be just another theme park. They are talking large resorts, shopping, and the Park is said to be an indoor, year round park. There is word that the idea came from a booming indoor park in China and that there is none other like it in the world. Therefore, Cedar Point and Michigan Adventure would be very different. When Grayling is busy during the winter months with their snowmobile tourism, so will the indoor park. I think it's a great idea and will not only benefit Grayling tremendously, but the entire state. That is why Granholm is said to announce this at a large event. She is hoping it will boost her votes as bringing growth to the state.

Is it true graylingnative that the development group wants the State to GIVE them the land, and for the State to pay for a new I-75 interchange? I just heard that today from a family member from the East side of the State. Even if it's only $10,000/acre, that's still $15,000,000 to be given away!! Yikes.

I agree that it would be a pretty good spot for it due to its proximity to both I-75 and 127 from Lansing. I've had the displeasure of driving South on 75 at the end of a Summer weekend and it was stop-n-go bumper to bumper from West Branch to....well to Detroit, and took us about 4 or 5 hours. 131 on the West side doesn't get nearly as busy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 9 months later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.