Lifestyle
Is Houston Building a New Theme Park?
Texans who grew up in Houston remember the amusement park AstroWorld (also known as Six Flags) as a wonderland of games, rides and gleeful screams. Now, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says he wants a new theme park in town.
This thought comes a bit over a decade after AstroWorld’s closure. Walking over the bridge crossing Highway 610 that connected the parking lot to the theme park was always filled with excitement at the beginning of the day and happy exhaustion at the end of the evening. Now, this bridge links extra parking to the NRG Park.
KHOU reports that Mayor Turner said, “I think we are missing, we don’t have a major theme park or amusement center. I know they’re thinking about doing some things with the Astrodome, that’s fine. But I do believe this city needs a major theme park or amusement center in order to compliment everything else we already offering.”
He recognizes the family fun and tourist attraction elements of the Houston Rodeo and Houston’s sports teams, but those are not year-round, permanent attractions. A few surrounding suburbs of Houston have waterparks, but it’s not the same as a close-to-downtown amusement park.
Mayor Turner would like to see plans for a theme park in motion before he leaves office, but the problems of parking and low turnout that ended AstroWorld will need to be addressed.
