After 11 years of ups and downs, twists and turns, bloodcurdling, hands-in-the-air shrieks and cries of “Let’s ride it again, Dad!” the Hurricane has called it quits.
The Hurricane was known to roller-coaster aficionados as the tallest wooden carnival-style ride in Florida. To motorists, it was that gargantuan contraption looming along the east side of Interstate 95 at Stirling Road that made you wonder: What if termites start to feast on that thing?
Andy Hyman, general manager of Dania Coaster Limited, the company that operated the coaster, said the bad economy was the death knell for the Hurricane.
“We had a great time, a lot of fun,” Hyman said. “But people are worrying about paying mortgages and or credit cards, and putting food on the table. Parents don’t have $50 to give to their kids and say, ‘Hey, here you go. Ride the coaster and play video games for a few hours.'”
The Hurricane, a two-minute theme-park ride without the theme park, opened on Nov. 1, 2000. Costing $4.5 million to build, it measures 100 feet tall and 3,200 feet long. On its biggest down slope, the coaster’s two six-seater cars flew at 60 mph.
It’s located next to Boomers, a video arcade/go-kart track/batting cage/kids’-party facility.
Although not particularly successful as a business in recent years, the roller coaster had its moments. Five couples were married while riding the Hurricane. And a number of television commercials were shot on the coaster, which was once ranked by Amusement Today magazine as one of the top 20 wooden coasters in the United States.
Wooden coasters are a rare thing: Only 182 remain worldwide, compared to 2,300 steel coasters.
On Tuesday, Hyman notified Joe Tortorella, general manager of Boomers, from whom the site was leased, that the coaster would be powering down in three days.
“I’m sorry to see it go, but they were not technically a part of Boomers. And Boomers will be OK,” Tortorella said. “We have 12 other rides and a substantial arcade.”
“I’ve never ridden the Hurricane, but I’m kicking myself, because I was planning to make a side trip there, while in Orlando on business in November,” said David Lipnicky, spokesman for Ohio-based American Coaster Enthusiasts, a national organization for amusement park and coaster operators.
“I’ve had many friends ride the Hurricane and they had nothing but good to say about it. And that says a lot because people who are enthusiastic about roller coasters are very serious about how they determine what makes for a good ride.”
Lipnicky said he hopes another ride operator will step up and revive the Hurricane. But Dania Beach officials say that is unlikely.
Corine Lajoie, principal city planner in Dania Beach, said Friday afternoon that Community Redevelopment Agency director Jeremy Earle has been approaching businesses housed around the Hurricane site for some time about the possibility of redeveloping the area. The city is developing its downtown core and remaking its antiquing zone into the Stirling Design District.
“The Hurricane has provided some great memories and was nostalgic when it was built,” said Dania Beach Commissioner Walter Duke.
“But the reality is the Griffin Road/I-95 corridor represents a major economic development area for our city. Between that and the Stirling Design District emerging to the south of that location, it was probably inevitable that we were going to try to convert the area where the Hurricane sits to a higher and better use at some point.”
