A Huge 150-Foot Ferris Wheel is Now in SF… But No One Can Ride It

A huge observation wheel intended to be a centerpiece of Golden Gate Park’s 150th Anniversary celebrations on April 4th has finally arrived in San Francisco. But no one can ride it.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the SkyStar Observation Wheel arrived on schedule in 14 trucks on March 15th from Cincinnati, but by the time arrived, the city was close to shutting down.

And because there’s no great place to store a 15-story wheel, it was decided the best move was to install it anyway on a custom-poured concrete pad in between the de Young and Academy of Sciences and have it sit quietly (without the 36 gondola viewing capsules) while we wait for things to return to normal.

The installation process (which includes an onsite seismic engineer to make sure everything is stable) takes six days and is scheduled to be completed on March 21st. Then we wait…

Read more and see photos at SF Chronicle.