Whitewater Center hopes new offers will help it stay above water

The economic tidal wave washing over the country hasn't missed the U.S. National Whitewater Center, though the nearly three-year-old operation is still treading water.

[robert]

Great deal going on right now,$49 all day pass!

[Tax Payer]

The center is a nice place but will never be able to clear its debt. It is doomed as a business. It will eventually have to sell. Tax payer's money was thrown down a money pit for an expensive toy to serve a few.

[Thy Bard]

It is debt laden. It is the poster child for the credit crisis. It defines it. For when in the cycle of easy credit, many projects are financed when they would not be any other time.

One person takes the confidence of another qualified person the another person takes the qualified opinion as fact then relies upon these "facts" for a decision so at the end, everyone looks dumb and innocent.

Its how this country WAS WORKING.

[chicken and biscuits]

i hear the place is packed
buses upon buses of people piling in
good news

[Thy Bard]

they could bring in buses all day long. it ain't gonna pay off $30 million dollars. At least not this century.

As before stated the municipalities already effectively are towing the interest payments. Therein, these same towns effectively "own" the project anyway. Except we do not have the oversight and control if in fact we are paying for the asset as in.

Get it? We already own it. Just like the Indiana toll roads. Its a "paper-fuck"? Get it? Yet?

Its bullshit. These guys are bullshitters. For Jiminy Cricket! hath they put retard powder in the Catawba River or what?

Where are our old people? They are supposedly the wise ones. Where'd they go?

Look, my Daddy would call a piss-ant, a "piss-ant" and a dumb-ass, a "dumb-ass". Its why no one liked him but they all respected him and he was content with that.

Somebody has to eventually sit down, think about it and call bullshit on ALL THESE PROJECTIONS.

You can't live on borrowed time nor borrowed money.

At some point, somebody has to do some work.

[molly hatchet]

dude watch the language plzz.

[POOR MAN]

I THINK THE PLACE IS OVER PRICED, IF A FAMILY OF FOUR WANTS TO GO, YOUR TALKING 200 BUCKS, WHY DONT THEY LOWER THE PRICE TO $15 TO $20 BUCK AND THIER NUMBERS WOULD GO UP. AND SO WOULD THIER PROFITS, EVERYONE AROUND HERE IS NOT RICH, MAKE IT MORE AFFORDABLE FOR EVERYONE .....POORMAN

[Thy Bard]

It is overpriced for Gaston County. Not for Charlotte and that is by design. Their market is the yuppies, sentient machines and slicksters.

And that demographic has imploded.

Now, they need Joe 12-pack and his barefoot trailer rats to whoop it up. A slight shift in customer? A redneck horde with expectations of cotton candy, bearded ladies and five-legged dog freak shows.

They NEED a new model.

[Wine Head]

POOR MAN wrote:

I THINK THE PLACE IS OVER PRICED, IF A FAMILY OF FOUR WANTS TO GO, YOUR TALKING 200 BUCKS, WHY DONT THEY LOWER THE PRICE TO $15 TO $20 BUCK AND THIER NUMBERS WOULD GO UP. AND SO WOULD THIER PROFITS, EVERYONE AROUND HERE IS NOT RICH, MAKE IT MORE AFFORDABLE FOR EVERYONE .....POORMAN

If you divide it by 10 hours, it's about 5 doolars a person per hour...If you can't muster that, don't bitch about it because we don't care..You can always get you a tire tude and float down the catawba river..

[Dan]

Try some real rafting:
http://smokymountainrafting.com

[Wondering]

I heard in that there are also private investors in the WhiteWater Park, we have never known there names. Anybody out there have any insight into these private investors?

By the way, these private investors got their money back from our tax dollars.

[Orange Bard]

Its a non-profit corporation.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg owns the land.

I do not see how any "private" investors are in there. Unless they purchased the land? Doubtful.

The non-profit may have "deals" with private businesses supplying one thing or another. Or the restaurant may have a sweetheart.

Bottom Line: Unless someone is watching real close then many ways exist to suck out the cash.

Its WHY Government does not do successful deals in the private market. Its the whole purpose of the laws preventing such "deals".

And as usual, the government didn't follow their OWN LAWS in this deal.

Belmont is getting quite the reputation for not following the law lately.

[CBR12]

I think it is fantastic, and it is very affordable. You can spend $5 and just go out there and relax and enjoy the scenery, ride your bikes or walk your dog. We love it and the area needs it to succeed, its one of only a few fine things in this area.