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"If I were a wizard with one last magic trick in my bag, I would bring back the old Coney Island."-Novelist Mario Puzo
Mario Puzo may get his wish. Would-be wizards are at work at Coney Island, where straw-hatted swells and bloomered gals once rolled their way through a barrel to enter America's fantasy land.
Using expertise they learned working for Disney, the partners of an Orange County firm, Management Resources, are recreating the days of egg cream and thrill rides.
The Tustin-based leisure-industry consultants have teamed up with New York developer Horace Bullard to rebuild Steeplechase Park-the best known of three Coney Island amusement parks-25 years after its turnstiles clicked for the last time.
In other words, West Coast know-how bringing alive East Coast nostalgia.
Some Are Skeptical
New York City just gave final approval to transform what is now 25 acres of vacant lots and Thunderbird bottles into a $250-million development scheduled to open in May, 1992.
Some amusement industry insiders are skeptical. But the project's developers believe they can transform the burned-out area in Brooklyn into the tourist mecca it once was.
There was a time, after all, when America loved Coney Island. The hot dog made its American debut there in 1867. So did a roller coaster that chugged along at 6 miles an hour in 1884. A 5-cent trolley ride brought thrill-seekers from three states who came to bet on horse races, ogle Little Egypt in the sideshows and sink their teeth into a Nathan's Famous hot dog.
In its heyday of 1911, Coney's amusement area stretched for 20 oceanfront blocks with a noisy assortment of roller coasters, Ferris wheels and thrill rides in three...