SEASIDE HEIGHTS – There’s a few remaining pieces to fit into place for a 131 foot-high roller coaster coming to the expanded Casino Pier.
Crews continued to chain parts of the bright blue and green thrill ride to a crane to be lifted and installed. The project is part of the expansion of Casino Pier northward, to replace a section lost out over the ocean from the storm surge of Superstorm Sandy.
January 31, crews were busy maneuvering pieces into place off a flat bed, while a majority of the skeleton of the roller coaster showed the curves thrill seekers would ride come summer.
Casino Pier owners received approval for a land swap that had Seaside Heights giving up a portion of its beach, about a block northward, in exchange for a beachfront parking lot on the far north of the borough going to Seaside Heights. The historic carousel inside Casino Pier would eventually be moved and housed in a possible museum on that parking lot that the town would maintain.
The pieces of the roller coaster have been sitting since late fall in a parking lot near Casino Pier, its parts piled high behind chain link fence. With so much of the installation complete, all but a few pieces of the roller coaster remain in the lot January 31.
The coaster will not interfere with the sky ride that takes passengers along the north end. While the new wooden pier under the coaster construction is complete, additional work behind and to the south of the coaster is taking place, with the entire amusement area closed and a staging area for the off-season. The boardwalk however is open for pedestrians during this part of construction.
