Seaside Heights, NJ – The destroyed New Jersey roller coaster could be a great tourist attraction, according to Mayor Bill Akers.
The iconic Jersey Shore roller coaster , which was swept into the Atlantic Ocean by the super-storm Hurricane Sandy, may not be torn down, according to Akers. The image of the destroyed roller coaster, sitting off-shore partially underwater right-side up, has become iconic as an example of the devastation caused by Sandy, and the Seaside Heights mayor thinks it would make a great tourist attraction.
Mayor Akers told NBC 4 New York that he’s working with the Coast Guard to see if the destroyed roller coaster is stable enough to leave standing in the sea. If the Coast Guard approved, the wrecked ride could be “a great tourist attraction.”
In the meantime, demo crews have finished clearing out the damaged boardwalk that was the “heart and soul” of the Seaside Heights resort, made popular nationwide by its regular exposure on the MTV show Jersey Shore .
Businessmen along to boardwalk are rebuilding because, in the words of Mike Mergott of Mad Mike’s Amusements, they’re “one hundred per cent sure” that families want to (and will) come back to the shore.
Business owner Jim Loundy, who owned several buildings destroyed by Sandy, says that the Jersey Shore won’t see another storm like this for “another fifty or sixty years.”
According to Mayor Akers, construction on a new boardwalk will begin in January and be ready in time for Memorial Day.
What do you think? Should they leave up the destroyed roller coaster as a Jersey Shore tourist attraction?
