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London Eye replica proposed for downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta could become home to a 45-story Ferris wheel ride called the "Atlanta Eye."
The Eye would be a replica of London's iconic wheel which sits on the south bank of the River Thames between the Hungerford and Westminster bridges.
WXIA-TV in Atlanta reports that an Atlanta law firm is spearheading the project, and that the group met with representatives from Atlanta's business community this week.
Merlin Entertainment, the owner of the London Eye, is said to be looking at real estate around downtown Atlanta. The Atlanta Eye would be situated near Centennial Park and the Georgia Aquarium.
The Atlanta Eye project is rumored to have a $200 million price tag.
London's Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, was built in 1999. A 30-minute ride on the wheel, which Merlin calls a "flight," costs about $29 U.S.
Merlin has expanded the London Eye attraction to include a "4D" movie experience, river cruises and an ice skating rink.
[Image credit: Flickr user David Prior]
Filed under: North America, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Anne Nov 15th 2010 8:56AM
What a dumb idea, to build a "London" Eye in a hurricane zone! A waste of resources, better turned to putting the coast line back the way nature intended to minimize future hurricanes. Besides where is our American originality going, we copy their shows, we do a bad imitaions, we import from everywhere, just build another disney park!
Susie Nov 15th 2010 9:32AM
Have lived in Atlanta for 25 years, can't imagine what would be worth seeing so high off the ground. Atlanta is full of TREES, not magnificent architecture. Add this to the long list of failed tourist items in Atlanta: tourist trolley; Patriotism Museum; Underground Atlanta (twice); Sid and Marty Kroft; Doll Museum; etc etc. Atlanta is simply not a very interesting tourist city. I have lived in Washington, DC, and Paris, and THOSE are interesting. There's just not much to see in Atlanta, much less from high in the air. Stone Mountain, yes, but what else?
dvdfrnzwbr Nov 15th 2010 10:27AM
Well I heard recently that they are considering building a replica London Eye there.
Elijah Nov 20th 2010 1:36AM
I am not even from, nor live in Atlanta, but visit often. That is the most ill informed comment possible. Many other cities envy the growth and development of this young city. They have a beautiful buckhead, midtown and downtown skyline and many beautiful natural attractions such as the trees you mentioned. Often the projects that simple minds call foolish become the ones of greatest worth, appeal and significance. Atlanta is a top ten tourist city, check your numbers, the busiest airport and top 5 convention destination. This would be a great asset to an outstanding American City. If you hate it so move to D.C.
Motorpro Nov 15th 2010 10:52AM
Woow How original!!! Whats next an Eifell tower in Dallas? This use to country of original thinking now we just copy the rest of the world.
frankerin Nov 15th 2010 11:52AM
The London eye is an eyesore, ruining the city scape, I think, and immediately distracts from anything else. Whatever is visible from the wheel simply justifies the marketing propaganda, and not everyone can afford either time nor money when traveling to detour to this joke. Atlanta moneymen see publicity and profits but ignore the general ambiance of the city. But money may win, even though the economy can't. The view ! that this will help the economy is a form of emotional extortion.
Kathy Handyside Nov 15th 2010 12:50PM
I agree totally - the London Eye is a total eyesore and it has ruined one of the most beautiful European cities. It looks like some cheap piece of Disney World junk.
Lon Horiuchi V Nov 15th 2010 2:51PM
BRILLIANT! Build something iconic that looks like a target with a bullseye for our enemies to take a shot at with a small plane so FedGov can use it as propaganda leverage to convince the public that they should intrude into and oppress private flyers in their Cessnas even more than they already do. Remember the Payne Stewart incident? Surveys were almost immediately rampant in asking the public whether our military should shoot down airplanes if they don't answer the radio. The WTC attacks followed relatively soon after. WOW, what a coincidence! But remember - conspiracies don't really exist. They're all nothing more than a THEORY, as we've been conditioned to think by repeatedly hearing the word THEORY immediately following the word CONSPIRACY. Remember also that the investigative and intel bureaucracies have tried to convince us that no secret survives two people knowing about it. Therefore, they have no need for all of those various levels of security clearances that we're billed thousands of dollars for EACH background check they conduct in order to issue security clearances to individuals. There's no such thing as a secret, but they spend billions of our dollars on security clearances for each person they employ? Hmmmmm?
Ben Nov 16th 2010 12:22AM
I live in Atlanta and love it, but the backer is Bernie Marcus. He is very well known for giving $200 million to fund the fantastic Georgia Aquarium, but on this project, he expects others to fund his 'vision.' Let me tell you that as a billionaire, he's shockingly tight and dependent on others to fund his ventures of late. I don't see this project happening. I'd like to see it, but would be shocked if it did get built. I've ridden on both the London Eye and Singapore Eye, and they're fantastic rides, but I don't think Atlanta's that much of a tourist destination.