Regional roundup: Black Hills coaster, big-name Sanford concert, Gordmans
From staff reports
New attraction in Black Hills
The owners of Rushmore Cave in the Black Hills have added a mountain coaster to their adventure park.
“We’ve traveled and ridden other coasters and they’re all really fun, but ours is built on the steepest hill this company has ever built on, and they’ve built 320 coasters,” co-owner Tom Hagen told the Rapid City Journal.
The coaster at Rush Mountain Adventure Park features carts that can hold one or two people. They’re connected to rails that wind through the trees and across the mountainside. The carts can reach a maximum speed of 30 mph.
“The rider has control of the brakes,” Hagen said. “You can control speeds so you can go super fast and fly down the hill, or go slow down and have a more gentle ride.”
Hagen and his partners bought Rushmore Cave in 2008. To draw more visitors, they added a zip line and a “7-D interactive ride” that features a large-format video game with motion seats and laser guns.
Rides are $15 for the driver and $10 for a passenger.
Read the Rapid City Journal story here.
Fergie, Lionel Richie to sing for Sanford employees
Sanford Health plans to celebrate the opening of its new $494 million medical center in Fargo with Fergie and Lionel Richie.
Sanford is putting on the concert for employees and guests. It will be June 21 on the medical center campus. Tours of the medical center for the public will be June 22.
Carson Wentz, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, will be featured as a special guest. Wentz led the North Dakota State Bison to two conference titles.
Fergie, who sings with pop group The Black Eyed Peas, is married to actor Josh Duhamel, a North Dakota native.
Gordmans to shift focus
The new owner of the remaining Gordmans stores plans to turn them into discount department stores similar to TJ Maxx or Burlington.
Stage Stores plans to shift the model to buy about half of the merchandise upfront and the other half as closeout merchandise, Thorsten Weber, Stage chief merchandising officer, told the Omaha World-Herald.
Previously, the mix was about 80 percent to 20 percent, Weber said.
Gordmans, which was founded in Omaha more than 100 years ago, declared bankruptcy in March. Stage bought at least 50 of the chain’s stores.
