A Giant Facelift
Story and photos by Jim Ryan, WBAP 24/7 News
Arlington (WBAP) - Faster, higher, sharper. Steve Martindale can't help but get excited when he talks about the new and improved Texas Giant. "The top speed will eclipse the old Texas Giant and will run up to 65 miles an hour," said Martindale, president of Six Flags Over Texas. "Most exciting to me, the new track will enable us to bank the track at an incredible 95 degrees."
The 2010 season opens at Six Flags on Saturday, but the Texas Giant won't run again until spring, 2011, when the $10 million renovation is expected to be done.
On Wednesday, crews from Rocky Mountain Construction hoisted the first section of fire-engine red, steel track into place on the wooden frame of the 20-year-old coaster. "It represents thousands of hours of engineering, applied physics and, as you can imagine, some pretty serious math," Martindale said.
In the highly competitive theme park industry and with the U.S. economy still slogging along, Martindale and the rest of the staff at Six Flags hope the renovated and re-worked Texas Giant helps the Arlington park to compete. "Everyone's always looking for that next big thing," Martindale said. "We expect this to be something that, not only people from Texas, but probably from all over the world are going to want to come and experience."
(Copyright 2010, WBAP 24/7 News. All rights reserved.)
