Roller coaster future for theme park? | ajc.com.
With jobs disappearing and homes being foreclosed, Georgians might need a day at Six Flags Over Georgia with its escapist fare of roller coasters, Bugs Bunny and Dick Clark’s bloopers. But the recession’s troubles don’t stop at the amusement park’s main gate in Austell. Six Flags Inc., the theme park’s parent company, is nearly bankrupt. Its stock closed at 24 cents Friday. A year ago, it was $2.17. Six Flags carries an unsupportable $2.1 billion debt. Dividends aren’t paid. Expenses have been slashed. And revenues are squeezed from virtually every fence post and TV monitor in each of the company’s 20 North American theme parks. Even the weather is bringing adversity. Six Flags Over Georgia was scheduled to open today —- its earliest opening ever —- as the summer of 2009 shapes up as a make-or-break year for the company. But a forecast of rain forced the park to cancel that plan, and now it says it will decide today whether to open Sunday.
