From Disaster, Magic at Six Flags : Amusement park’s record attendance, expansion plans a bright spot for the region

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia figured to suffer greatly from the effects of the Northridge quake, as have so many other businesses in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. For one thing, its main customer artery, the Golden State Freeway, was severed and shut down on the day of the temblor.

But the freeway was repaired in record time, and we suppose that the need to be entertained and escape one’s troubles is even greater after such an enormous natural disaster. It is also likely that the baseball strike, which prevented people from watching the Dodgers and the Angels, helped as well.

We are happy to report that those unfortunate factors have combined to boost Six Flags Magic Mountain to what figures to be a record season for attendance. That is a noteworthy development for a Southern California region hungry for positive economic signs. What’s even better, however, is what this record-setting season has spawned.

As Times reporter David Wharton recently noted, a planned expansion of the amusement park that could add hundreds of jobs and millions in additional tourist dollars has been stuck on the drawing board for a decade. No more.

The unexpectedly high attendance in a year that involved the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history has persuaded Six Flags Entertainment officials to go ahead and build a new 14-acre water park that will be opened next summer. The speed with which the Golden State Freeway was reopened was also credited.

“We were very impressed with how quickly the state acted,” said Bob Pittman, chairman of Six Flags Entertainment, adding that “the time was right” to go ahead with the expansion. That comes as very welcome news in an area still reeling from the lingering recession, the earthquake and defense industry cutbacks and consolidations.