THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701180363
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Special Report: Part 2 - Nauticus: What Went Wrong?
SOURCE: By TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 38 lines
Nauticus has fallen far short of the original attendance estimates by Harrison Price, but no one in Norfolk has pointed an accusing finger at Price. There's a simple reason - Price is still considered, as the city said years ago, one of the best in the business.
Harrison ``Buzz'' Price and the Los Angeles company that bears his name, though unknown to the public, are legendary in the theme park industry.
He won the industry's first lifetime achievement award.
Price did the original economic analysis for Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., the granddaddy of all theme parks.
He did it again for Disney World in Florida. His clients include the Smithsonian, Opryland and several World's Fairs.
Neil Winslow, who handled the Nauticus account for Price, now is head of Warner Bros.' theme park division.
``We did some very good work in that shop,'' Winslow said. ``It was an exciting time of my life.''
``Harrison Price's reputation is excellent,'' said John Graff, director of the International Association of Amusement Parks in Alexandria. ``He's probably a mentor to most of the people who labor in that area.''
Why, then, did his projections for Nauticus prove elusive?
``As far as I'm concerned, they departed from everything we were talking about,'' Price said. ``The numbers were there.
``Most of the time, when projects I've worked on come up short - and there are not many - it's because of how they were executed or because they were undercapitalized.''
Price said he's only as good as his clients.
No one believed him, he said, when he said Disneyland could make money.
``If it hadn't been for Walt Disney, I might have looked kind of silly, because I said it looked feasible,'' he said.