New Ferris wheel debuts tonight on the Santa Monica Pier
Tonight's the night -- the big debut of the new Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier, with speeches, dignitaries, fireworks and all 160,000 lights twinkling and twirling in all their laser-bright, programmed glory.
Also free rides, free snacks and a $65,000 donation raised for the Special Olympics by the EBay sale of the old wheel.
Stats from the press release:
The all-new $1.5-million Ferris wheel was manufactured by Chance Morgan Inc. in Wichita, Kan., and stands 130 feet above the Pacific Ocean, features 20 gondolas with a maximum six riders per car, accommodating up to 600 riders per hour.
Festivities start at 8:45 p.m. More info is at the pier's web site. And look - a web cam!
-- Veronique de Turenne
Photo: Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times
Do the homeless of Santa Monica also get free snacks and rides?
Posted by: Burnside Betty | May 28, 2008 at 11:46 PM
Well, what it saves in energy it makes up for in light pollution and horribly poor taste. It's just another example of Santa Monica's City Council's brilliant agenda to make the city into a Vegas style congested retail consumer nightmare. Someone should tell Herb and the rest of those geniuses that they could've simply replaced the current bulbs with LEDs, rather than turn the thing into a giant rotating laser beam. My advice would've been to use the money to clean up the water surrounding the pier, but it was their call: unhealthy levels of fecal bacteria for all the city to play in, or a shiny new attraction to inject more money into their pockets? Good choice.
Posted by: Tupac | May 29, 2008 at 08:37 AM
I don't get it, I thought what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas, why did they bring it to Santa Monica, yuk, that thing is UGLY and bright, maybe the kids will like it?
Posted by: rp | May 29, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Excelent marketing job, how many people showed up to the inauguration? Four people? I just found out about this today and I live right next to the Pier.
The new wheel looks exactly like the old wheel.
How about making the Pier longer so we can fit more people and more atraction in it?
Posted by: Nice Wheels | May 29, 2008 at 11:09 AM