Great City Attractions No Longer Attracted to Downtown Dallas for That "Observation" Wheel

Several Friends of Unfair Park have inquired: Whatever happened to Great City Attractions' plans for that enormo Ferris wheel in downtown? Because last we heard, in a Halloween email from Nigel Ward, Great City Attractions's head of global site development, was that while the original site -- next to the...

By Robert Wilonsky

January 6, 2012

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Several Friends of Unfair Park have inquired: Whatever happened to Great City Attractions' plans for that enormo Ferris wheel in downtown? Because last we heard, in a Halloween email from Nigel Ward, Great City Attractions's head of global site development, was that while the original site -- next to the Kennedy Memorial Plaza by the Old Red Courthouse downtown -- was a no-go, "We look forward to working with Mayor Rawlings, the City of Dallas and the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau on finding a new and exciting location for the Wheel."

But yesterday someone at Dallas City Hall told Unfair Park that the so-called "observation" wheel was "dead." I emailed Ward and never heard back, so I started calling around. Said one highly placed city staffer when asked if that was true, the answer was: "Pretty much." Said another: "I believe the developer is no longer interested in Dallas." They didn't want to be named and said to call the DCVB. I did, and Dustin Clark, director of marketing and public relations, confirms: "Dallas is no longer under consideration for the wheel."

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