Thursday, March 28, 2024
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First wind-powered amusement park game now at Pacific Park

How hard does a guest have to swing a mallet to ring the bell? The answer is literally blowing in the wind with the world’s first wind-powered amusement park game, the High Striker at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier.

The 25-feet-tall High Striker features a silver-plated bell that sounds each time a guest is strong enough to strike the pallet with a mallet that sends the puck racing to the top.

The win is signified by the wind that’s generated from the 600-watt wind turbine that’s affixed to the top of the adjacent building and rises 45 feet in the air. The three fiberglass wind turbine blades have a cut-in speed of approximately 4.5 miles per hour, which matches the minimum average wind velocity year-round on the Santa Monica Pier.

The power generated from the wind turbine is captured, converted into usable power and stored in a specially designed, self-contained power storage unit adjacent to the High Striker.

All components of the High Striker are now completely wind-powered including the chaser lights with more than 100 bulbs, multiple spotlights and sound system.

Xantrex Technology Inc. manufactures the PowerHub. Sunforce Products Inc. manufactures the wind turbine.

“The adaptation of the High Striker to wind power is another step forward in meeting our goal to lead the industry and the City of Santa Monica in green initiatives,” says Jeff Klocke, director of marketing and sales at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. “We have long showcased the world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel as an innovative environmental effort. The High Striker is a further testament to the Park’s commitment to sustainability.”

In 2010 Pacific Park was awarded Excellence in Stewardship of the Natural Environment at the 15th annual Sustainable Quality Awards presented by the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and the nonprofit Sustainable Works.

The Pacific Wheel is the world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel featuring 160,000 energy-efficient LED lights that present dynamic, custom, computer-generated lighting entertainment each evening. The eco-friendly, enhanced LED lighting provides 75 percent greater energy savings than most Ferris wheel’s traditional incandescent bulbs.

In addition to the world’s only solar-powered Ferris wheel and energy-efficient LED lights, Pacific Park continues to identify additional greening initiatives including the replacement of all light fixtures in the Park, discontinued use of bottled water and providing employees with reusable bottles and mugs, and upgrading cleaning supplies to environmentally friendly products.

Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, LA’s only admission free amusement park, offers 12 amusement rides, 18 midway games and an oceanfront food plaza. Signature rides include the Pacific Wheel, the world’s first solar-powered Ferris wheel; The West Coaster, a steel roller coaster that races 55 feet above the Santa Monica Bay; and Inkie’s Air Lift Balloon Ride, the high-flying, family-share kids ride. For additional information and hours of operation, call 310-260-8744, or visit www.pacpark.com.

Martin Palicki
Martin Palicki
Martin Palicki owns and publishes InPark Magazine. Started in 2004, InPark Magazine provides owners and operators the perspective from "in"side the "park." Martin has also written for publications like Sound & Communications, Lighting & Sound America, Attractions Management and others. Martin has been featured in Time Magazine, CNN.com and Folio. Martin lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

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