Volume 2, No. 14. July 26, 2002
Cliff
hanger
Gary Hays was preparing to entertain the media and further inflame community
excitement over his park’s new wooden coaster, New Mexico’s first.
Yes, construction on The New Mexico Rattler at Cliff’s Amusement
Park in Albuquerque was behind schedule, a tardiness due, Hays thought, to 9/11-related
economic troubles interfering with delivery of materials. But this July 12 grand
opening celebration had been planned when the coaster's opening was first postponed
in early June, so the Hayses and their opportunistic public relations consultant
Bill Robinson turned the event into a media day honoring Cliff’s 43rd season
and the coaster’s “pending arrival.”
All
Hays needed to know that Friday morning was when his coaster would be done.
Instead, he learned that the coaster’s manufacturer, Custom Coasters International,
was done.
Denise Dinn, the company’s president, told Hays and Robinson she was planning
to shutter the company for personal reasons related to her pending divorce.
“Here
we were standing there doing a press conference knowing full well that she had
pulled the plug,” Hays said. “It was an interesting feeling.”
On
July 17 Custom Coasters International Incorporated filed in Cincinnati for Chapter
7 bankruptcy—liquidation. The same day, Denise Dinn filed for Chapter 7
bankruptcy, consumer case. While assets were reported in the business case,
no assets were reported for the consumer case. The first meeting of creditors
in both cases is set for Sept. 4.
The
news of CCI’s closure sent a shockwave through the industry, surprising
some parks and manufacturers with its suddenness and flooring coaster enthusiasts
who consistently rated CCI woodies among the world’s best. Even those who
saw CCI’s demise coming were concerned that yet another major ride manufacturer
had fallen to financial woes and could take other industry suppliers with it.
The
impact of CCI’s bankruptcy was most immediate at Cliff’s where Hays
thought he was nearing completion of The New Mexico Rattler. “We
found out a lot of the steel that was supposed to be here for a July opening
hadn’t even been ordered yet,” he said. With CCI’s closing, the
company's workers on the Cliff’s site were laid off. “We had to make
a payroll for her,” Hays said of Dinn.
Nevertheless,
Cliff’s continues with construction. “Being 95 percent complete, we
had to grab hold of it and go,” Hays said. He had already ordered his trains
directly from Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, and he concluded unfinished orders
for supplies himself. He hired the 21 laid-off CCI employees already on site,
“and every one of them is busy. The guys out here have just been great
to work with. Their objective is to get the ride completed.”
That, he now hopes, will be by the end of August. “We’re looking on the positive side,” Hays said. “It’s going to cost us more, but I think we’re going to have a class-one coaster when we’re through. It’s being built right in the middle of this park, and it’s amazing to see it being built with the park open.” And Albuquerque is still afire with anticipation. “The community is excited,” he said.
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