10:44 AM CST on Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Associated Press

Six Flags AstroWorld will auction off loads of the shuttered amusement park’s equipment in an opportunity for collectors to acquire some one-of-a-kind artifacts of Houston history.

AstroWorld

The AstroWorld auction is gaining serious attention from bidders hoping to secure memories.

The three-day auction starts Friday at the former park, which closed its doors in October after 37 years. Organizers say the generations of memories formed at the park have fueled interest in the chance to purchase the memorabilia and equipment.

“I just want something to remember the park by,” said Danny Hinojosa, a former AstroWorld employee who wants to snag some of park’s benches. “It was more than just a job. It was more like a family.”

Many of the rides and some of the equipment were transferred to other Six Flags parks. But there’s still enough stuff to pack several buildings at AstroWorld. The leftover items range from old amusement ride signs to industrial sewing machines, golf carts, disco balls and a waist-high double ketchup dispenser on wheels.

Anthony Piccola, a former AstroWorld purchasing manager who is coordinating the auction, said he receives about 350 e-mails daily about the sale. Many inquiries are about specific items, such as one potential bidder who wants antique taxi No. 14 because that’s where he popped the question to his now-wife.

Other items that have attracted the most attention are the signs for Greezed Lightnin’ and Thunder River, Piccola said. Signs showing height requirements for certain rides have also been popular.

Auctioneer Kenneth Dixon, owner of Tri-State Auction of Mississippi, said he expects nostalgia seekers to go for items like the old park signs, while other participants might value more utilitarian equipment like stainless steel tables.

Officials for Oklahoma-based Six Flags, Inc., which operated the park since 1975, have said they opted to sell the 109-acre site rather than make additional investments during a time of dwindling attendance. A real estate agent said he expects the parcel, which sits across the street from Reliant Stadium, will be split up and developed for a myriad of uses.

Robert Thomas said he has his eye on a life-size longhorn steer made of fiberglass.

The steer once sat atop the Western Smokehouse restaurant at the park, and now Thomas wants to mount it atop his trucking business, Space City Hot Shot.

“I want it real bad,” he said.