Silver Dollar City plans 'Grand Exposition'

Modeled after those world-renowned technological and industrial fairs in St. Louis, Chicago and Philadelphia, an $8 million, two-acre expansion called The Grand Exposition is slated to open at the Branson theme park in March, Silver Dollar City officials announced Nov. 5. Plans include 10 family rides and a collection of attractions, entertainment and technological wonders from expositions between 1876 and 1904.

“The Grand Exposition opens a whole new region of the park,” said Brad Thomas, Silver Dollar City general manager, in a news release. “In keeping with our hallmark of bringing the past to life, we’ve chosen the theme of a very grand and exciting era.”

The theme has a direct connection to Missouri with the World’s Fair in 1904 coming to St. Louis and P.T. Barnum’s Traveling Expositions statewide tours in the 1870s.

New rides will have a capacity of 5,000 passengers per hour. The rides include the five-story Wave Swinger and the ship-themed Galleon that will send riders nearly 60 feet in the air.

While the rides are being manufactured in Italy, Canadian theme park designer Forrec has completed a site plan. Other work is staying local, either in-house or under Springfield engineering firm Malone Finkle Eckhardt & Collins’ direction.

“It will probably mean 200 new jobs for Silver Dollar City in 2006,” Thomas said of the expansion at the park’s north end.

This is the second significant investment for Silver Dollar City in the last year; the $10 million Powder Keg ride opened in March.

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s Nov. 7 e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.