Fair Without Bell's Amusement Park
The 2007 Tulsa State Fair, held following the close of Bell's Amusement Park, saw a 7% drop in attendance and a 29% drop in midway ticket sales, according to preliminary figures released soon after the end of the fair's annual run. Vendors told the fair board that it was their belief that the board's decision not to renew Bell's lease was the reason for the drop. The Fairgrounds CEO said that they did not have any theories at the time to account for the drop. Urban Tulsa Weekly stated that many Tulsans were angered by the fair board's eviction and planned to stay away in protest. In 2007, the midway for the Tulsa State Fair was provided by Jerry Murphy, Bell's main competitor. Murphy also owns Big Splash Water Park which is also located on the Expo Grounds.
Read more about this topic: Tulsa State Fair
Famous quotes containing the words fair, bell, amusement and/or park:
“Their holders have always seemed to me like a woman who should undertake at a state fair to run a sewing machine, under pretense of advertising it, while she had never spent an hour in learning its use.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)
“You owe me ten shillings,
Say the bells of St. Helen’s.
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
Pray when will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney.
I am sure I don’t know,
Says the great bell of Bow.”
—Unknown. The Bells of London (l. 13–22)
“Business is, emphatically, the amusement of Americans, and, to be in keeping with their character, every thing written for their amusement should partake of the useful.”
—H., U.S. women’s magazine contributor. American Ladies Magazine (February 1828)
“The park is filled with night and fog,
The veils are drawn about the world,”
—Sara Teasdale (1884–1933)