Some Sandy-Battered Amusement Parks, Piers Reopen On Jersey Shore
KEANSBURG, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Along the Sandy-battered Jersey Shore, some sense of normalcy has resumed this weekend as some parks and piers have reopened.
As WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported, Keansburg Amusement Park and Runway Rapids Family Waterpark in Monmouth County is among the venues that has reopened. During Sandy, the park was under six feet of water.
Some Sandy-Battered Amusement Parks, Piers Reopen On Jersey Shore
"We put all the rides back together, and no one thought this weekend would be reopened, but we are reopened," said owner Hank Gehlhouse.
But the popular Wildcat ride was destroyed. In total, Gehlhouse said the park sustained over $2 million in damages.
Also reopened this weekend was the kiddie ride section of the park at Jenkinson's Boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach.
"This weekend, for Palm Sunday weekend, is when we open our ride park, and this is in line with our opening every year," said park spokeswoman Toby Wolf, "so our timing on that wasn't set off by Sandy. We were able to keep things on schedule."
The only major damage at Jenkinson's amusement park was that the train station needed to be rebuilt, and that process remained in progress as of this weekend. Most of the rides were removed from the boardwalk before Superstorm Sandy hit, Wolf said.
But not all the Jersey Shore amusement parks had it so easy. The amusement pier of Seaside Heights was virtually destroyed during Sandy, and the Jet Set roller coaster ended up in the ocean -- as perhaps the most enduring image of the storm.
Plans still have not been finalized for the removal of the roller coaster.
Crews in recent weeks have been installing planks to reconstruct the boardwalk in Seaside Heights.
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