Restored Tuscora Park Ferris Wheel to be dedicated Sunday
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (May 26, 2023) – Most of the rides at Tuscora Park will be running again Saturday but not the Ferris Wheel.
It’s being dedicated Sunday at 3 pm after undergoing a two-year, quarter-million dollar makeover. RTY Board Chairman Greg Rees says it was fully rebuilt to meet the state’s new safety standards for amusement park rides, got a fresh coat of paint, and is now handicapped accessible.
“The path we took was we made it able to load wheelchairs, and two of the gondolas were specially made by Dover Tank and Plate to load a full-sized wheelchair.”
RTY is the park’s non-profit operator and an extension of the New Philadelphia Rotary Club. Members spearheaded the restoration, which Rees says wouldn’t have been possible without the community’s support.
“This thing was a Tuscarawas County project both in donations and what we call work in-kind, and that is companies that partner with us to do some of the repair or refurbishment work, companies like Gradall and Dover Hydraulics. And we also had participation by Fenton Electric and also Wood Electric, plus RJ Cylinder did some work that we had difficulty in outsourcing.”
The club is now getting ready to rehabilitate the park’s kiddie roller coaster, which Rees says won’t be back up and running until later in the summer.