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New Life for Miracle Strip Amusement Park
01/07/10 - 06:42 PM
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  The once-popular Miracle Strip Amusement Park is coming back, but only partially.  Panama City tourists and residents alike may remember the old park, which was located on Panama City Beach from 1963 to 2004.  It was sold to make way for a new condo development, and after the condos were never built, the park’s remains were leveled last Fall.
  But Bay County resident Teddy Meeks plans on resurrecting a few of the rides, starting with the old park’s original carousel he bought a few months ago.
  “It was in the back of a 40 foot trailer with about six inches of dust all over it,” Meeks said.  “So I had to convince my wife it was okay to do this, she was a little apprehensive about it.”
  Meeks said his wife didn’t need any more convincing when the carousel proved so popular at its new location in Pier Park.  She gave Teddy the go-ahead to purchase four more rides, which are on their way to join the carousel at the popular beach shopping destination.  But moving the rides and getting his wife’s approval to do it wasn’t the toughest part of the move, it was getting approval from the Mall’s owners.
  “The process hasn’t really been tough,” Meeks said.  “But going through the political process was a lot more daunting than getting [the machines moved] through here.”
  Once he got permission to move the rides, he was able to look forward to the park’s opening.  He plans on it being pretty popular.
  “Our job is to keep people occupied,” Meeks said.  “Keep the kids who aren’t shopping, and the parents who aren’t shopping occupied so that mom can go and do her thing.”
  The old park’s rides will be in a central location in Pier Park.  Meeks plans on a March opening, right in time for the prime tourism season.