Grand Palace sold.. ...(maybe)

[sanddunerider]

we have all heard and read abouot it...

Reportedly the palace has been sold..  Investors (unamed) will demo the bulding this summer and rebuild onsite...  Thats it! No other details.... 

SOOOOOOOOOOOO   here we go again!!

[Swoosh]

Glad it is being demo'd.  The building never really fit the strip.  Way too big.

[Hollwood]

Demolish the Grand Palace? I have so many memories in that building. Maybe the Wonder Works people will rehab it like they did the HFE theatre in Pigeon Forge!

[KBCraig]

I always thought it was an eyesore. It looked like TBN headquarters or something.

It might have been a fit in Las Vegas, but not Branson.

[sanddunerider]

It is a MASSIVE building,  And if you drive out back it just keeps "growing"....

[Junior]

I remember seeing the Rockettes one Christmas there. Adeu, Grand Palace!

[shavethewhales]

That's unfortunate, the theatre had so much potential to pull in some really big acts into Branson. Sounds like something else is in the works though, so at least that will be better than an empty theatre. I just hope it's not going to be another strip mall.

[rubedugans]

Shoot, you all caught on to my plan to rebuild The Diving Bell in Downtown Branson.

[sanddunerider]

lets see a new diving bell attraction AND The Dugan motel..!!  yea baby!

[Junior]

Funny! 

[Zephon]

I'm not sad to see it go.  When the Hershcends built it, their heart was in the right place, but the vision was a little off.  At around 4000 seats, the Palace was too big for the ordinary Branson style acts (cost of operating would be prohibitive), and too small for the big name acts (you need at least 10,000 to be able to pay the act and still keep ticket prices affordable). 

I hope the new owners have a good plan...but please...no new theaters, malls, motels, restaurants, go kart tracks, minigolf, or souvenir shops.  We don't fill the ones we have.  A park might be nice...some kind of a return to nature; course, I don't suppose there's much money in that.

[shavethewhales]

It's a prime spot and a prime time for a real attraction. An aquarium, museum, or something else similar would be tremendous right now.

[sanddunerider]

zephon, 4,000 seats? yep thats a little much for branson. 

I frequent the RFD theatre, 2100 seat capacity and very seldom see 500-600  peopel, which barely fills the lower level..

[Hollwood]

It's a prime spot and a prime time for a real attraction. An aquarium, museum, or something else similar would be tremendous right now.

Branson won't see an aquarium, it's just not a money ,maker. It takes multi millions to build one, and their tickets are traditionally dirt cheap. If you go to the website of an HFE aquarium you will see that their ANNUAL passes are cheaper than a daily pass to any HFE theme park. The problem with that is you then depend on one of two things. 1.) high, repeated local annual pass sells, or 2.) repeated tourist visits. The reason there is not a middle is because of capacity. The Atlanta aquarium is the largest in the world and was built with an initial $250 Million DONATION, and another $110 Million expansion, and only put through 3.6 million people in 2009. The numbers only make sense because of the donation, that is the only reason they are making money. The Georgia aquarium would not fit in the Grand Palace foot print, so in my opinion, no smart investor would build one. HFE would have done it by now if there was any money in it... CC would fit the Georgia Aquarium and then some, perhaps the only plot of land in Branson that is already developed with an infrastructure that is capable of holding something of that size.

[chittlins]

It's a prime spot and a prime time for a real attraction. An aquarium, museum, or something else similar would be tremendous right now.

Branson won't see an aquarium, it's just not a money ,maker. It takes multi millions to build one, and their tickets are traditionally dirt cheap. If you go to the website of an HFE aquarium you will see that their ANNUAL passes are cheaper than a daily pass to any HFE theme park. The problem with that is you then depend on one of two things. 1.) high, repeated local annual pass sells, or 2.) repeated tourist visits. The reason there is not a middle is because of capacity. The Atlanta aquarium is the largest in the world and was built with an initial $250 Million DONATION, and another $110 Million expansion, and only put through 3.6 million people in 2009. The numbers only make sense because of the donation, that is the only reason they are making money. The Georgia aquarium would not fit in the Grand Palace foot print, so in my opinion, no smart investor would build one. HFE would have done it by now if there was any money in it... CC would fit the Georgia Aquarium and then some, perhaps the only plot of land in Branson that is already developed with an infrastructure that is capable of holding something of that size.

Quite honestly, this is taken care of with the redo of the WoW museum adjacent Bass Pro in Springfield.

http://www.wondersofwildlife.org/

Merlin bundles their Sealife's with a Lego or Madams