Starting at noon, Atlantans will have a new way to look at the city. After twice delaying its grand opening, SkyView Atlanta will be open for business Tuesday.
Crews spent the weekend and a few late hours on Monday prepping the 200-foot high Ferris wheel near Centennial Olympic Park for completion. Following the grand opening, the attraction will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on most days. But it isn’t just riders who will be impacted by SkyView. Downtown Atlanta’s newest attraction is also bringing jobs to the city.
SkyView hosted a job fair on June 5 where Atlanta residents could attend and apply for the many positions available at the site. Jobs were reportedly available for full- and part-time positions that paid between $9 and $13 an hour.
The select
ed employees went through a simple application and interview process and got their phone calls less than a week later. An orientation session was held July 11 to begin training employees in their new positions.
“It is going to be a great attraction in Atlanta,” said Natalye Givons, a new employee at SkyView Atlanta. “It’s definitely going to bring sight seers and visitors and tourists from different places here. We need people to help serve customers and maintain the ride.”
So far, more than 50 positions have been secured and 20 more positions may be available in the future, representatives from Atlanta Partners LLC, the company behind SkyView, told the Daily World. And unlike summer theme parks, Skyview is expecting to operate all year.
“It’s not like Six Flags where pretty much everybody gets laid off in August,” said Jason Evans, a SkyView Atlanta spokesman. “These are year-round positions. If the people that are employed by us are doing a good job, then we have no problem keeping them.”
The attraction will cost a little less than $15 per rider and each flight takes between 12 and 15 minutes and includes four rotations around the wheel. Time will tell if SkyView can remain a viable attraction for tourists and city residents, but its opening has captured a lot of attention.
“I definitely plan on visiting as soon as I find out when it is opening,” said Taylor McCoy, an Atlanta resident. “I think it is good for people visiting Atlanta because they get a better view of the city. I think it will open up new ideas for the city itself.”
The Atlanta City Council approved the project on May 21 and according to Councilman Kwanza Hall it was a no-brainer. The project is a private project on public land and Hall told WXIA that it did not require money from the city.
“I think we only benefit from a tax revenue perspective,” Hall said. “We get cash in, in this case, so we don’t have to make any investments or anything like that.”
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