The abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans once resounded with children's laughter and the shrieks of passengers on the thrill rides. Now the only sound is the drone of the cicadas. The amusement park on the city's eastern edge is perhaps the most high-profile, lingering, and ghostly reminder of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. Ever since the levees failed and flooded the city with water in 2005, the park has stood empty, creating a nuisance for neighbors, a target for graffiti artists, and an eerie landmark for sightseers. Now, the city's mayor says she's getting close to tearing it all down, per the AP. "I have my sights on the Six Flags site, which we are now running numbers for demolition [on]," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in May.
Her office has since released a statement saying an assessment is being done to determine the best use for the site. The theme park never reopened after Katrina, and eventually Six Flags went bankrupt. Control of the property went to the Industrial Development Board of the City of New Orleans. A security guard tries to keep people from sneaking inside; some of the rides are still standing and visible from nearby roadways. A 2016 analysis commissioned by the board estimated it would cost about $1.3 million to demolish the rides and other infrastructure. And then there's the question of what to do with the site afterward. Over the years, the city has tried to attract investors to the property, but no plans have taken off. (More amusement parks stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
