Pigeon Forge Attracts Another Class Act!

Though wooed by a serious list of investors throughout the world, the owners of Wonder Works have decided that the second installation of their successful Orlando-based educational and entertainment facility will go into the former home of the Music Mansion in Pigeon Forge.

The exterior of the building is so unique that it is designed to stop traffic: the three story building appears to have landed upside down and angled upon another existing structure as if some power of nature uprooted the building and sent it swirling through the air out of control, until the tornadic force dropped it on another building..

“We knew we had to have an outside wow,” said Robin Turner, who came up with the idea of the upside down building, with his partner John Morgan. “It had to be a traffic stopper,”

Plans are to keep the Music Mansion primarily intact with the new structure built atop it. Customers will enter through a space where the new building intersects with the old. Turner said, “It will be spectacular. It will become one of the icons of Pigeon Forge.”

Turner expects to close on the sale of the Music Mansion within the next six to eight weeks for $7.25 million. The total investment in the property is expected to be between $15 and $18 million.

Construction will be handled by Denark Construction and Bullock Smith & Partners are handling the conceptual design. Construction on the 50,000 square foot project is expected to begin in August with a completion date set for spring or summer of 2006.

Some of the activities in the Orlando based business include laser tag, a bed of nails, a bubble lab where visitors can make giant bubbles large enough to encapsulate a person, simulations of flying F-14 and F-18 fighter jets, and a Wonder Coaster where visitors can ride a simulation of a roller coaster that has the ability to turn 360 degrees in every direction. The exhibits are designed to be fun and educational and although there has been much interest in franchising the idea, the two partners say they want to “maintain the quality and uniqueness of the attraction by keeping the number of locations down to four across the country.”

John Jagger, community development director for Pigeon Forge visited the Orlando facility earlier this month and said, “It’s very different and certain eye-catching.” He added that the quality of the building is obvious and there is nothing similar to the attraction in the Smoky Mountains.

The Orlando facility of Wonder Works hosts 500,000 visitors each year, and they new owners expect the Pigeon Forge location to see at least 800,000 annually because of its larger size, the higher concentration of people in the area and a lack of competition such as Sea World and Disney World.

The attraction will have a retail component and a dinner/magic show that can accommodate 300-400 people, and expects to hire 90 to 100 full and part time employees.