Tuesday, May 5, 2009

“Hello Main Street”



This is a follow up post to “Goodbye Main street”. The construction walls on Main Street have come down and the peek-ins are back up and to be honest they look pretty darn good. This was much more than I was expecting. The peekins look fresh and inviting and I noticed they were drawing quite a lot of attention on Saturday when I was out at the farm. BearyTales.net http://bear-ytales.net/ has posted a full update on the return of the peek-ins that includes a short video that is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.



"Assay Office"



First off the Assay Office looks great. They put the original figures back in and used many of the original set pieces. They have restored the animation and now the Assayer’s scale rocks back forth as he assesses the ore samples. It is good to see the awning back on the front of this building. It is also nice to be able to see in the side window now since they relocated the sign painter that was butted up against that side wall. For some reason this building looks to be a little wider or shorter than it was previously, perhaps the awning skews the proportions. Still overall this building looks fantastic.

"Hop Wing Lee’s Laundry"

Another stellar job. Hop Wing Lee looks rested and refreshed. He is back at work and thanks to the restored animation is actually pressing clothes again. Nice to see the Laundry hanging on the line above. I am so happy that they put the original door back in. Who doesn’t remember peeking through that little round hole when they were little?




"Barber Shop"


The Barber Shop looks pretty good but it appears that either time or money ran short as there are some important details missing. First off there is no lettering on the windows. Also the barber’s pole is no longer on the outside of the building. Lastly the wanted poster inside could have been done better, it needs to look like the guy in the chair or the humor is lost. Actually maybe the guy in the chair is to blame, either way they need to match. Still the overall appearance is an improvement. Maybe they just haven’t had a chance to finish the details. Let’s hope!



"Silver Dollar Saloon"

I don't think anyone expected the Saloon to return to it’s former role and unfortunately the results live up to the expectations. This is the only let down in the whole bunch. The ugly green target board has returned, the raccoon on a stump has also returned to add an air of realism to the proceedings. The exterior lines of the saloon we’re retained but it is now an unfinished shell for the shooting gallery. The decorative steel grille is all that is left from the old Saloon. I am also hoping that they are not done with the details here as well but I fear that they are.


Deadwood Dick’s grave


D.D.’s grave is still there but the grave markers have been redone. Unfortunately they, like some of the grave markers in Boothill, do not look very authentic. I forget where but I read that back when Ghost Town was originally built they made the signs look weathered by painting the letters on and then sandblasting the wood to give it that aged look. The painted letters would stay raised up while the wood on the background was worn down. I wish that they would give that a try these days.


Overall I think that Cedar Fair has done a very good job rebuilding this part of Main Street. I hope that as much care goes into the next part of ghost town that gets "refurbished".


That's all for now. Take care and Thanks for Readin'

6 comments:

WWill said...

Regarding the Barber Shop... they actually saved and reinstalled the original door glass with lettering toward the end of the construction phase (see photo from 4/16/09).

I assume it broke or was otherwise discarded before completion. 'Tis a shame (barber pole is missing, too).

Great job, otherwise, Cedar Fair. This has certainly exceeded my expectations!

outsidetheberm said...

Another nice update. Thank you. I should have a post on the history of this area soon.

WWill said...

A newly-fabricated barber pole is now on the Barber Shop!

TokyoMagic! said...

Wow...thank you for this update! The Assay Office and Wing Lee's Laundry both look great! The barber shop looks pretty good...too bad about the original glass window...maybe they will put some lettering on the new one. The Silver Dollar Saloon however, looks HIDEOUS!!!!! I guess 3 out of 4 isn't bad considering who and what we are dealing with (I mean YOU, Cedar Fair.....SHAME ON YOU!) We should probably be happy with with what we got, right? Thanks again LTK, for your great coverage of these Main St. buildings!

Hoyt Clagwell said...

I just got back from Knott's today and there is now new lettering of the barbershop window. I wanted to photograph everything I could before anything else gets rebuilt or torn down. I had to wait until the Fiesta weekends were over and yesterday was gospel day. Not my thing! But I did get to ride in the cab of engine #41 after having met the train operators last year. They were really great and gave me a 1st class tour of the whole operation. Boot hill is decent now, if you can ignore the roller coaster pylons. They have the original audio for the owl and organ with eulogy working and sounding clearer than ever. Also a new hearse on the other side of the stream.

Anonymous said...

That Shooting Gallery is awful. Cedar Fair lived up to my expectations.