In April 2012, Breslin Builders began dismantling Speed The Ride -- the roller coaster formerly resident at the Sahara, which boasts crazy acceleration stats and repeats its entire course in reverse -- in hopes of resurrecting it at Akita Retail Plaza, on the South Strip. At the time, it was "being redesigned to work within and over the existing site and parking lot conditions, and allow for new and exciting curves and bends to be added to the ride," according to Breslin’s website. It was to be part of an odd mixture of amenities that included a nightclub, restaurants, an on-site radio station, a third Las Vegas "mob museum" of some type (focusing on classic cars, apparently), and a tightrope-walking school/attraction.
Fourteen months later, however, the project seems no closer to fruition -- much like its neighbor the once much-hyped, but now deeply indebted and little-heard-of SkyVue Super Wheel. (We hate to be superstitious, but that site almost seems to be jinxed, with the Cloud Nine helium-balloon ride meeting an inglorious fate not just once, but twice, while some kind of petting zoo planned for the spot failed to materialize. We're pretty sure it's also the site where a friend of ours here in town was in talks to open an alligator attraction with Steve Erwin; they last spoke about the project the day before Erwin was fatally impaled by a stingray, but we digress...)
The last we heard, Breslin's permit to store the dismantled roller coaster at this location expired at the end of April, so we're not even sure if the attraction is still lying there or not. A call to Breslin Builders was not returned. The only word we've heard from Akita Plaza in recent times, in fact, is that the McDonald's there, an existing mall tenant, is hiring, but we don't think that has anything to do do with expecting hungry hordes of thrill-seekers anytime soon.
