Reopening of Tuscora Park Ferris wheel delayed
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (May 26, 2022) – The Ferris wheel won’t be turning again when Tuscora Park reopens for the holiday weekend.
The vintage ride has been undergoing a more than $250,000 restoration spearheaded by the park’s nonprofit operator, RTY Incorporated, and paid for with donations. Board member Greg Rees says the goal was to have the work completed by now, but they’re still waiting on one more part to arrive.
“So after that, then we can put the gondola cars on and call the inspectors, and they said they’d come out. So it’s just a big project and it only takes one thing to slow it down.”
Rees says the part they’re waiting on is a rubber insert that goes inside the large drive pulleys RJ Cylinder is fabricating to power the ride. It could arrive as early as next week, but Rees says it will likely take a month or so to put everything back together and get the wheel turning again.
“What has to happen after that is tension the large cable that drives it and Jimmy, our mechanic, will start putting the gondola cars on. That takes probably takes a week – two days of lifting the cars on and the rest of the week just putting small things together – and we’re gonna go as quick as we can. We’ve got extra people helping. It just won’t be ready for the weekend.”
The park’s other rides will begin operating for the summer Saturday at noon, which is also when its putt-putt course reopens. Ride tickets cost 50-cents more than last year at $1.50 each, and it’s $4 per person instead of $3 for a game of putt-putt.