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#579079 - 09/25/08 06:24 PM
Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
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Willard
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Registered: 06/10/02
Posts: 5271
Loc: Well-Heeled Atrocity Show
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Damn, I knew this would happen, I just figured it would take a little longer than 5 months. They are now closed for business and say they'll reopen next year - but I wouldn't bet on it. I should mention Hard Rock doesn't own this boondoggle, they just licensed the name. 50 bucks a head for ages 3 and up?? Pffft.
For those that are familiar with the area, let me just say Myrtle Beach got what it had coming. They allowed the heart and soul of the grandstrand to be torn down (Pavilion) in exchange for this. Serves them right.
Hard Rock Park files bankruptcy
Attraction shuts early but plans to reopen in 2009
Lisa Fleisher
(Myrtle Beach) Sun News
Posted: Thursday, Sep. 25, 2008
The grand opening event Monday June 2, 2008 at the Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach. Photo by Steve Jessmore / Sun News
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. The owner of Hard Rock Park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today and the park will be closed for the rest of the season, a company spokesman said.
The 55-acre, $400 million park plans to re-open in 2009, said Jim Olecki, a park spokesman. He would not go into detail when asked about the plans to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
Olecki said the park never had enough money for promotion to begin with when it opened in April, and the credit crisis that unfolded across the country over the summer made it impossible to get more, he said.
"The economy, the frozen credit markets, the global drop in tourism all just created a situation where ... we werent getting the attendance that we needed and the costs exceeded what we were bringing in," he said. "Everything just kind of added up."
Economists and theme park industry experts said the park, which had been in the works since 2001, could not have opened at a worse time, as home prices fell, consumer confidence was lower than it had been in nearly two decades and gas prices were at all-time highs.
"The stars were clearly not aligned for them to get going this year, some of which was their own doing and some of which were other factors," said Don Schunk, a research economist at Coastal Carolina University who studies this area.
Annual pass and other ticket holders will have to wait until a bankruptcy judge decides whether those passes will be valid, refunded or forfeited, Olecki said.
Of the 2,000 employees the park had during peak season, 75 nonseasonal employees will remain throughout the off-season, Olecki said.
The park, which has been the biggest investment in the history of the S.C. tourism industry, was heralded as the marquee draw that would attract more national and international tourists and investment.
"Were naturally disappointed, as we were hopeful Hard Rock Park would establish itself as an anchor attraction for the Grand Strand, and clearly that has not happened," said Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. "Clearly in the future, we would encourage them to revisit the pricing strategy and consider more out-of-market advertising."
Schunk questioned whether the financial landscape would be better this winter than it was over the summer, given the recent market turmoil and credit drought.
"They certainly have a better chance of having a better year in 2009 just in terms of attendance," he said. "But realistically, how can they, between now and next spring, given everything thats going on right now, how likely are they to go out and attract new investors? With the kind of markets we have right now thats a challenge for any business."
Critics have said the $50-a-head ticket for everyone over age 3 was too high for this market.
Last year, the park's marketing director, who left the company shortly after the park opened, said it would rely primarily on the media buzz generated by the park's billing as the world's first rock-and-roll theme park to get it started.
When it opened in April, the park said it expected to see up to 30,000 visitors a day in the high season and around 3 million for the full year. Executives later backed off that claim.
In a goodbye message on the park's Web site late Wednesday, it thanked the "hundreds of thousands of guests" who visited.
In August, the park said that attendance was not meeting expectations. It laid off 21 employees and reduced operating hours. A month ago, one of the park's main investors, Africa Israel Investments, wrote off its $10 million investment in the park.
County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said she was saddened to hear the news.
"That breaks my heart," she said. "Because they did exactly what they dreamed they would do and they said they would do, and that is they built a first-class, world-class park that would have helped boost the economy along the Grand Strand. There couldnt have been a worse time to open."
Gilland said she would be open to hearing what the park had to say if it asked for financial assistance from the county.
"Well be open to any suggestions, but that doesnt mean well act on any," she said.
HRP Myrtle Beach Holdings LLC, the park's parent company, filed under Chapter 11 in Delaware bankruptcy court, Olecki said. The company licensed the brand name from Hard Rock International, which owns the restaurant chain.
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#579114 - 09/25/08 07:04 PM
Re: Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
[Re: tboonpickens]
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PRODGOD2
Silver Member
Registered: 06/01/08
Posts: 440
Loc: Bend, Oregon
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Live Nation?
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#617565 - 12/29/08 11:40 AM
Re: Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
[Re: PRODGOD2]
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Willard
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Registered: 06/10/02
Posts: 5271
Loc: Well-Heeled Atrocity Show
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Damn - looks like they'll be filing Chapter 7. I don't understand the bit about " needing millions in upgrades" since it's a new park. This was a pipe dream that shouldve been ushered quietly out the door when pitched at the bank, a terrible, non-viable idea from the word go.
Hard Rock Park hopes dim
With no buyer in sight, Myrtle Beach theme park's unlikely to open in 2009.
By Lisa Fleisher
The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News
Posted: Monday, Dec. 29, 2008
Little hope remains that a theme park will reopen in 2009 on the site of Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach.
The $400 million Hard Rock Park, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, is still looking for a buyer after a rough first season which might turn out to be its only season.
An auction earlier this month with a minimum bid of $35 million failed to attract a buyer, according to court documents.
Public officials who have courted potential buyers say the feeling is that the park would need millions in upgrades, including new rides and marketing, and would not be open until 2010.
Months ago, a Hard Rock Park spokesman said the park would not open in 2009 without a new owner.
Even before the park opened on the corner of U.S. 501 and the Intracoastal Waterway in April, amusement industry observers said the park's owners would likely have a hard time making debt payments, said Jim Futrell, a historian who is on the executive committee of the National Amusement Park Historical Association. But a second owner could buy it on the cheap, stabilize it and sell it for a bit more, Futrell said. And a third owner could actually make money on the park.
If nobody buys the park, the park's owners could pursue a Chapter 7 liquidation, or the case could be dismissed and banks and creditors would foreclose on or repossess the property, said John Weaver, the Horry County attorney.
Mark Lazarus, who owns Wild Water and Wheels in Surfside Beach, said, I certainly hope that somebody can come in and resurrect it and make a go at it, I do. I think it would be great for our whole economy.
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#617598 - 12/29/08 01:19 PM
Re: Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
[Re: AlecPappas]
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WillisDickfit
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Registered: 11/08/05
Posts: 1480
Loc: Send a message to Buddy.
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My magic 8 ball even predicted this one.
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#617713 - 12/29/08 06:15 PM
Re: Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
[Re: WillisDickfit]
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corey3rd
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Registered: 06/23/03
Posts: 14862
Loc: The Last House on the Right
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Maybe they needed to have Randy Partin booked every night?
$400 million? Sounds like someone was laundering money through this losing operation.
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#617717 - 12/29/08 06:24 PM
Re: Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
[Re: Willard]
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teverett
Diamond Member
Registered: 01/24/00
Posts: 22721
Loc: Los Feliz-adjacent
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Olecki said the park never had enough money for promotion to begin with when it opened in April, and the credit crisis that unfolded across the country over the summer made it impossible to get more, he said.
"The economy, the frozen credit markets, the global drop in tourism all just created a situation where ... we werent getting the attendance that we needed and the costs exceeded what we were bringing in," he said. "Everything just kind of added up..."
Critics have said the $50-a-head ticket for everyone over age 3 was too high for this market.
No shit...
Geniuses: you start with a reasonable price, then jack it up as you become established.
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#617737 - 12/29/08 07:06 PM
Re: Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
[Re: teverett]
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BrandonKCMO
Silver Member
Registered: 04/22/08
Posts: 367
Loc: The Middle Western Americas
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maybe some of those guitars on the walls will end up on ebay now...
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#617836 - 12/29/08 11:53 PM
Re: Hard Rock Park Files Chapter 11
[Re: BrandonKCMO]
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Threnody
Silver Member
Registered: 05/25/03
Posts: 495
Loc: The LaZboy
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It really wasn't a bad park, it was just a clusterfuck of bad moves not helped AT ALL by a shitty economy and tourist season.
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