Bells Non-Parking Lot Nearly Finished

[BierGarten]

quote:Originally posted by Breadburner

Sickening.....

Yes.  It is sickening that the death trap also known as Bell's was allowed to stay in operation for as long as it did.

Tulsa World -- Wildcat Material Faulted


By Brian Barber
10/25/1997


State investigators have identified the use of an
"inappropriate" material on the Wildcat roller coaster at Bell's
Amusement Park as the cause of last spring's fatal accident and
said park officials are ultimately responsible for the tragedy.
"Bell's personnel substituted the plastic material used by the
Wildcat's manufacturer with a plastic which is not recommended for
use in an anti-rollback device," Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Brenda
Reneau said Friday.
The ride car, which carried Patrick Kurek, 14, to his death, had
only one safety device, and that device was dependent upon a
material called Nylatron, Reneau said.
"This inappropriately brittle material, inadequate for resisting
impact loads, shattered, rendering the anti-rollback incapable of
preventing the accident," she said.
Five other people were injured April 20, when the ride car
carrying Kurek slid backward down the incline and into another car.
The Nylatron insert in the anti-rollback device shattered when it
was supposed to have caught on a groove to prevent the car from
rolling backward.

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by BierGarten

quote:Originally posted by Breadburner

Sickening.....

Yes.  It is sickening that the death trap also known as Bell's was allowed to stay in operation for as long as it did.

Tulsa World -- Wildcat Material Faulted


By Brian Barber
10/25/1997


State investigators have identified the use of an
"inappropriate" material on the Wildcat roller coaster at Bell's
Amusement Park as the cause of last spring's fatal accident and
said park officials are ultimately responsible for the tragedy.
"Bell's personnel substituted the plastic material used by the
Wildcat's manufacturer with a plastic which is not recommended for
use in an anti-rollback device," Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Brenda
Reneau said Friday.
The ride car, which carried Patrick Kurek, 14, to his death, had
only one safety device, and that device was dependent upon a
material called Nylatron, Reneau said.
"This inappropriately brittle material, inadequate for resisting
impact loads, shattered, rendering the anti-rollback incapable of
preventing the accident," she said.
Five other people were injured April 20, when the ride car
carrying Kurek slid backward down the incline and into another car.
The Nylatron insert in the anti-rollback device shattered when it
was supposed to have caught on a groove to prevent the car from
rolling backward.

1997?

[BierGarten]

quote:Originally posted by swake

quote:Originally posted by BierGarten

quote:Originally posted by Breadburner

Sickening.....

Yes.  It is sickening that the death trap also known as Bell's was allowed to stay in operation for as long as it did.

Tulsa World -- Wildcat Material Faulted


By Brian Barber
10/25/1997

1997?

Yes.  If you have ten minutes, reading all of the articles written about this death, the civil lawsuits regarding the incident and the contemplated criminal charges that were eventually not brought against Bells, it is a fascinating story.

[Conan71]

The Wildcat death was an accident, a lesson was learned, the Bell family settled with Kurek's family without putting them through a lengthy and painful civil suit.  Seeing that no criminal charges were ever brought, that pretty much means the DA did not find enough evidence of any malicious or intentional willful neglect.  The Bells were stand-up people throughout.

What the stories failed to relate was that Kurek did not heed safety warnings and was acting like a jackass bouncing up and down and backwards and forwards in the car putting strain on the stopping device for which it was not originally designed.  That was a contributing factor to the wrong material being used in the device.

Another thing which was largely ignored by the media is Clark Brewster, the same Clark Brewster who voted to boot Bell's off the Fairgrounds, was the Kurek's attorney.

[BierGarten]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

The Wildcat death was an accident, a lesson was learned, the Bell family settled with Kurek's family without putting them through a lengthy and painful civil suit.  Seeing that no criminal charges were ever brought, that pretty much means the DA did not find enough evidence of any malicious or intentional willful neglect.  The Bells were stand-up people throughout.

What the stories failed to relate was that Kurek did not heed safety warnings and was acting like a jackass bouncing up and down and backwards and forwards in the car putting strain on the stopping device for which it was not originally designed.  That was a contributing factor to the wrong material being used in the device.

Another thing which was largely ignored by the media is Clark Brewster, the same Clark Brewster who voted to boot Bell's off the Fairgrounds, was the Kurek's attorney.

I suppose there is not much one can say to a person that feels its okay to refer to a fourteen year old deceased individual from our community as a jackass.

I can say this, contrary to your above espousement, an insurance company does not settle a lawsuit out of the benevolence of their heart.  I have trouble believing that you actually believe that they settled the case out of concern of dragging the family through a "lengthy and painful civil suit".  That's just silly.

[cannon_fodder]

I don't know anything about the kid who died on that ride.  But if someone WAS acting like a jackass would it be OK to refer to them as such or if someone dies must we refrain from speaking the truth (he did not say the kid was a jackass, said he was 'acting' like a jackass, as teenagers often do).  On top of all of that, did Bell's manufacture the failed device that was made of inadequate materials or did they just operate it?  Is everyone that drove kids in a Ford temple a horrible monster too because they were ultimately adjudicated inadequate for the job?  Not that this issue really has anything to do with the current situation as having an "inadequate business plan" was the reason given for the closure - not "killed a kid 10 years ago."

Back on point- you're saying we should close all business that are found liable for an accidental death and turn them into parking lots by lying about our intentions to put something more than a parking lot in it's place?  Cintas had an accidental death last year, parking lot.  Tons of oil fields have accidental deaths.  A kid just died at a rodeo not far from here last month.  Parking lots.  A boy died playing paint ball in Tulsa last year, how do we pave over that one?

Bier: It is clear you have some other problem with Bells.  If you knew the kid that died, if you once got fired from there, if you really like Randi Miller... whatever the case is you'd do better to just say what it is than pretend this pretense had anything to do with the paving of Bells.  If you look back I was skeptical of Robby Bell's argument at the time and still am, but we KNOW Randi Miller lied when she said it wasn't going to just be a parking lot.

And after all, what are we going to do if some kid gets accidentally killed in this vast parking lot?

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by BierGarten

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

The Wildcat death was an accident, a lesson was learned, the Bell family settled with Kurek's family without putting them through a lengthy and painful civil suit.  Seeing that no criminal charges were ever brought, that pretty much means the DA did not find enough evidence of any malicious or intentional willful neglect.  The Bells were stand-up people throughout.

What the stories failed to relate was that Kurek did not heed safety warnings and was acting like a jackass bouncing up and down and backwards and forwards in the car putting strain on the stopping device for which it was not originally designed.  That was a contributing factor to the wrong material being used in the device.

Another thing which was largely ignored by the media is Clark Brewster, the same Clark Brewster who voted to boot Bell's off the Fairgrounds, was the Kurek's attorney.

I suppose there is not much one can say to a person that feels its okay to refer to a fourteen year old deceased individual from our community as a jackass.

I can say this, contrary to your above espousement, an insurance company does not settle a lawsuit out of the benevolence of their heart.  I have trouble believing that you actually believe that they settled the case out of concern of dragging the family through a "lengthy and painful civil suit".  That's just silly.

I've known Robby Bell for over 25 years.  It's not wild speculation on my part as to the how and why it settled.

The Bells carried more than the statutory minimum liability and had say in their insurance company entering a settlement rather than going to trial.  The Bells were truly remorseful about the incident.  It made them sick.

I didn't say he was a jackass I said he was acting like one when the accident happened.  I'm sure he was a great kid and no amount of money will ever make the family whole again.

D'oh:

"Rep. Richard Phillips, R-Warr Acres, questioned the requirement cap for liability insurance for amusement parks, which must total at least $300,000. He said that is a low limit, especially in cases such this one that result in the deaths of children.

Kurek (Kurek's father) noted that Bell's liability was covered by insurance above the minimum. However, he said that because the case has been settled, he could not go into specifics.

He said he settled because he feared industry attorneys would have tried to attach blame to the boys, because that has occurred in similar cases."

[BierGarten]

I don't know Mr. Bell nor the deceased.  I never said that any entity that has an accidental death should be closed down.  I used the death as one reason behind the fact that I could really care less that Bell's got the boot.

I did not follow the Randi Miller saga; however, I would rather a surface parking lot a million times over what Bell's was.

The fact that Bell's is gone means that Tulsa is now a good market for the construction of a new theme park.

[cannon_fodder]

Really?  Then why has there been no serious talk about a new park fter more than a year of no Bells?  If we get a "new" amusement park it will probably be Bells part II... mostly the same equipment, same owner, but now set up in a suburb.

Sorry Bier, I started ahead of the game on the name alone.  But the only reason you have given for disliking Bell's is the dead kid.  You have now added the prospect of getting a new park to your reasoning - but it is not a proper role of the county to force an existing Tulsa owned business to close in the hopes of someone else coming to open one (how would you like them to close your business in the same hope?).

Bells provided entertainment and revenue.  The value of Bell's the county can be quantified at $2,000,000 (see my 3rd post above).  We paid $500,000 to give away that $2,000,000 in order to pay to construct a parking lot that sits empty 325+ days a year.

To sell this idea to the public Randi Miller claimed the business model of Bells was a failure and if we did not close it we would have to pay to do so when they went bankrupt.  Well, Bell's had proof of a credit line and plans of expansion in the form of a new steel roller coaster AND we ended up paying to close it anyway.  She further said that the area would not just be surface parking - which it is.

So I call Bull.

Even if you were not a fan of Bells (I was not either, I thought it was run down and generally did not appeal to me), the manner in which the county handled this indicates a complete lack of respect for business owners and citizens.  They screwed the Bell's out of their company, shut down a Tulsa landmark, and lied to the citizens about the reasons for their actions, the costs of doing so, and the end result.

If nothing else, agree that those are examples of a failure in government.  And that is what I am mad about, not the simple loss of Bell's Amusement Park.

[swake]

I think we all agree that the park was run down and needed work.

I'm very skeptical of the county's decision that Bell's wasn't viable as they had just been approved for a loan to build a new rollercoaster and I would far more trust a bank to evaluate Bell's prospects over a documented liar in Randi Miller. The Murphy's campaign donation to Randi makes this stink even more as it provides motive to Randi wanting Bell's out and gives the glaring appearance of a payoff.

Wouldn't everyone have been happier (and the county richer) if instead of deciding arbitrarily and probably unfairly that the Bell's wasn't going to make it and spend a ton of taxpayer money to get rid of them, not to mention losing all possible revenue from rent in the future if they had written into the new lease specific performance requirements with regards to upgrades and appearance? Would that not have left everyone in the entire community except the Murphy's happier?

If that would have happened the Bell family would still have a business, the city of Tulsa would still have an important attraction in an amusement park, the county would not have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove Bells and hundreds of thousands of dollars more to build an unneeded parking lot and would still be receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent. On what planet does any of that make sense?

Plus, I blame the failure of the river tax to a large degree on the Bell's fiasco.

[T-Town Now]

If Randi Miller is involved in something, it's tainted from the word go. I don't trust her as far as I could move the IPE Building with my bare hands.

The woman is a disgrace to Tulsa.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by T-Town Now

If Randi Miller is involved in something, it's tainted from the word go. I don't trust her as far as I could move the IPE Building with my bare hands.

The woman is a disgrace to Tulsa.

i dunno, KK gives her a run for her money on that title.

[TURobY]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

quote:Originally posted by T-Town Now

If Randi Miller is involved in something, it's tainted from the word go. I don't trust her as far as I could move the IPE Building with my bare hands.

The woman is a disgrace to Tulsa.

i dunno, KK gives her a run for her money on that title.

Who?

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

the manner in which the county handled this indicates a complete lack of respect for business owners and citizens.  They screwed the Bell's out of their company, shut down a Tulsa landmark, and lied to the citizens about the reasons for their actions, the costs of doing so, and the end result.

Excellent summary.  The county must be proud.

Backtracking a bit, how does the accident on the roller coaster differ from the accident on the collapsing water slide (other than one was a fatality)?

Is the answer "One donated to a re-election, and the other is now a parking lot"?

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by swake



Plus, I blame the failure of the river tax to a large degree on the Bell's fiasco.

Swake, I think that had a fair amount to do with it, that could have been 10 to 15% of the vote, I dunno.

I for one am someone who definitely looked at the River proposal with more of a critical eye due to the way the county ****ed the Bells like a tied goat.  Too much mystery in both instances with the same instigator (or at least, instigator of record).  

How on earth does the county claim a company has a flawed business plan when there were apparently commercial lenders prepared to loan Bell's up to $750K for a new ride the year they got shut down, they had just added about $700K in new rides and it sounded as if financing the multi-million $$ new roller coaster wasn't a problem either.