Six Flags New Orleans

The sign for Six Flags New Orleans 

           Six Flags New Orleans has spent the bulk of its existence as an attraction for thrill-seekers and movie studios rather than as a functioning amusement park. The park opened in 2000, under the name Jazzland, and in late 2002, Six Flags purchased a 75 year lease on the site. They changed the park’s name to Six Flags New Orleans and began operations. The park, however, closed on August 21, 2005, five days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall and never reopened. After the storm, the park was underwater for weeks. Over the years, Six Flags removed some of the salvageable rides and sent them to other parks. In the meantime, the park has continued to decay. All efforts to rehabilitate the site have failed. Yet even before Hurricane Katrina hit, Six Flags New Orleans was struggling to survive. 

            The park opened under the original name of Jazzland in 2000. The company responsible for managing the park, Alpha Smart Parks, had little experience running larger themeparks and Jazzland failed to turn a profit. Jazzland featured several rollercoasters—including one based on the Zephpr rollercoaster found at Pontchartrain Beach in the mid-20^thcentury. It also had normal amusement park features like splash rides, spinning rides, and a carousel. A little after a year in operation, Alpha put the lease for the park up for sale. Six Flags bought it in 2002 and changed the name of the park a year later. In 2003, they significantly upgraded the park, adding new rollercoasters and more shaded areas. One of the biggest additions was an inverted rollercoaster called Batman: The Ride. Six Flags had drawn up additional plans for a water park, but Hurricane Katrina prevented it from ever being constructed. 

The park underwater 

            Six Flags New Orleans sits on low ground in New Orleans East. New Orleans East specifically refers to the area east of the Industrial Canal. The park’s drainage pumps failed during the storm and thanks to the storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain, Six Flags remained under water for over a month. The floodwaters ranged from four to seven feet deep.  Nearly of all the rides in the park were completely destroyed. Water damage ruined all of the flat rides and several of the rollercoasters. Only the Batman: The Ride coaster remained salvageable due to its height above the ground and lack of corrosion. In July 2006, Six Flags declared the park a total loss and sought to exit its 75-year lease. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin announced his plans to hold Six Flags to their contract and force them to rebuild. The company, however, only was obligated to build using the money it recovered from insurance payouts. Once Six Flags revealed that it received less than half the value of the assets of the park, the company declared bankruptcy and broke the lease. 

            The location of the park also fueled Six Flags’ desire to break the lease. The park sits in New Orleans East, far away from the French Quarter and other tourist attractions. In the 1960s and 1970s, contractors began building new suburban style sub-divisions in New Orleans East. The goal was to offer suburban living within city limits. New neighborhoods quickly popped up and were filled with middle-class white families. By the 1980s, middle-class African-American families, seeking to escape the city began moving into the area as well. This prompted twenty years of white flight. As whites began moving out and the oil industry collapsed, apartment complexes in New Orleans East began to accept poorer tenants. The influx of poverty brought higher crime rates and the entire region became anathema to many city residents. Following Hurricane Katrina, many residents moved away and never came back. In 2000, 95,000 people lived in New Orleans East. Today the populations sits somewhere between 65,000 and 75,000. 

An abandoned rollercoaster 

            In the years following the storm, multiple companies have offered proposals to redevelop the site. One wanted to double the size of the park to over 60 rides and build a waterpark. Another wanted to construct an outlet mall. Another proposed turning the site into a powerplant. The continued degradation of the site, however, has made any such transformation cost-prohibitive. Yet the site still has some uses. First, it has become a place that people enjoy breaking into and filming their adventures exploring the broken-down rides and abandoned buildings. Second, various Hollywood studios have shot films in the park. These have included, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jurassic World, and Deepwater Horizon. No films, however, have been shot at the site for 3 years. In the meantime, as the city of New Orleans struggles to find some use for the park, the site continues to deteriorate.