Beach Bay Amusement Park is building a beautiful entrance plaza for the new Zippin Pippin and they are giving you the chance to place you or your company’s name on one of the bricks.
Click here for a brochure with more details about the brick sale. Want to donate to a “Remember Libertyland” brick? Send us an email!
The new Zippin Pippin at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin doesn’t open to the general public for a few more days (May 21), but media outlets were allowed to preview the ride. One video of the ride was posted to Youtube:
So far I’ve heard great things about the ride experience. Hopefully it is similar to the original Zippin Pippin ride experience.
You can see some great new photos of the Zippin Pippin under construction at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin here. The ride is coming along nicely!
The rebuilding of the Zippin Pippin is up for $50k in the Pepsi Refresh project. Please vote for the project to receive the money here!
“Bay Beach is the 9th oldest amusement park in the U.S.; operated by the City of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The regional attraction draws 2,000,000 riders annually; mostly families who come for affordable rides for children of all ages. No ride is more than 50 cents!
The park hasn’t had a roller coaster since 1936. “When are you getting a roller coaster?” is the most common question asked at the park. The City has purchased the rights to build a new “Zippin Pippin,” reported to be Elvis’ favorite roller coaster; designed by John Miller, the “Thomas Edison of coasters.”
The new Zippin Pippin will be the original design, but built entirely of new wood. Portions of the original coaster will be used for an entry way and display. The City will finance 80% of the cost, with a volunteer group working to raise $600,000.
The project is catching the eye of roller coaster enthusiasts nationwide and the excitement of families throughout the region who say it’s the perfect addition to Bay Beach.”
What appears to be one of the Zippin Pippin cars will be used in one of Green Bay’s city parade floats in order to promote the “new” coaster. You can view a news video about the float here.
There is no word on how the original trains will be incorporated into the new Zippin Pippin.
A plaque will be installed near the site of the Zippin Pippin and will honor both the coaster and Libertyland.
From the Commercial Appeal:
The project to replicate the Zippin Pippin has been set on the fast track.
“That roller coaster is going to outlast all of us,” said Mayor Jim Schmitt of Green Bay, Wis.
That city recently held a celebration of the historic ride, which once anchored Libertyland in Memphis and soon will be the flagship attraction at Wisconsin’s Bay Beach Amusement Park.
On Tuesday, Jimmy Ogle, president of the Memphis organization Remember Libertyland, helped contractors rummage through old parts before the last of the ride was hauled north.
The nonprofit group, formerly known as Save Libertyland! Inc., sold Green Bay the name, design and history of the roller coaster, including the cars, for $35,000.
Memphis will unveil a historical marker at the roller coaster’s old site near the Mid-South Fairgrounds at noon Nov. 1. A two-sided plaque will commemorate Libertyland on one side and the Pippin, known as Elvis Presley’s favorite ride, on the other, Ogle said.
“We’ve done a lot of fighting, and this has finally been resolved,” Ogle said. “In name and in spirit, the Pippin found a home.”
During the community event Oct. 9 in Green Bay, a few thousand children were invited to sign the coaster’s top-most beam, the place where riders glance heavenward before plummeting nearly 70 feet down the wooden frame.
The children were also invited to empty their piggybanks to ensure the future of the ride at the fundraising event.
The project to rebuild the Zippin Pippin will cost Green Bay an estimated $3 million; the city borrowed $2.4 million and pledged $600,000 in private donations.
Nearly all of the building materials will be newly purchased, as most of the old structure in Memphis was deemed unsalvageable once it had been left to the elements after Libertyland closed.
The foundation already has been laid at Bay Beach park. Miron Construction Co. of Neenah, Wis., received $936,753 to build the wooden frame.
“This is our first coaster, so it’s definitely a learning experience,” said Kurt Wolfgram, project manager.
Wolfgram said the structure would stay true to the design, drawn by John A. Miller in 1923.
Wolfgram said the ride should be finished by March 24. The grand opening for the Zippin Pippin in Green Bay is set for May 7, 2011, and Schmitt has renewed his promise to let any visiting Memphians ride for free.
“The Pippin couldn’t come to a better home,” the mayor said.
“The great people of Memphis will be proud of what we’re doing.”
Originally posted at Coaster101.com
The Zippin Pippin Roller Coaster Construction blog is following the construction of the relocated ride very closely and has been making regular photo updates. For the last couple of weeks we’ve seen the foundation work for some of the straight sections going into place and now footings are going in for the first turn. The bulk of the treated lumber that will make up the structure of the coaster is now on site and anxiously waiting to be put in place. Can’t wait to see this classic resurrected! Visit the blog for more pictures.
