Where’s George≠
The entrance to the proposed Decades Music Theme Park, as shown in a scale model, displays a photo of the three of the Fab Four.

Phoenix-based investors are planning a theme park for rural Arizona that, in the spirit of the fictional rock group Spinal Tap, takes the state all the way to 11.
All they need from the state, they say, are some minor statutory changes that will allow the project to receive bond funding.
The $800 million, 240-acre park, which backers say will rival the Disney World complex in Florida, is being proposed for Eloy. In addition to a luxury hotel and condominiums and 120,000-square-feet of retail space, Decades Music Theme Park will feature roller coasters and other rock-‘n’-roll-themed rides.
At the center of the park, designers hope to erect a faux Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris modeled to look like the MTV logo or a VH1-inspired replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Also planned is a Mount Rushmore of Rock, depicting the faces of four rock legends.
Lobbyist Kevin DeMenna says the state’s current theme park law, passed in 2005, only allows a special theme park taxing district to be created in Coconino and western Maricopa counties.
The theme park statutes allow for a theme park district to issue up to $1 billion of revenue bonds and levy a sales tax of 9 percent — on top of the existing state and local sales taxes for the area — to repay the bonds.
Because Eloy is in Pinal County, the law would need to be changed if the park is to be built, DeMenna said. He also would like to allow the theme park district to have more flexibility in levying a sales tax. Instead of a mandatory 9 percent, he wants the law to permit a rate up to 9 percent.
Because the law calls for revenue bonds to be issued, DeMenna said there will be no financial requirement to Arizona, Pinal County or Eloy.
“There is no recourse to taxpayers,” he said.
If the law in changed to allow the park to be built — construction is currently slated to begin in 2009, with opening day scheduled for 2012 — DeMenna said private investors would commit the $800 million capital needed to finance the construction. As soon as the park makes its first sale, the bonds would be issued to repay the investors and the sales taxes would begin to repay the bonds.
“The challenge,” DeMenna said of convincing lawmakers to change the law, “is to persuade them that it’s viable.”
One thing sure to help DeMenna make his case with legislators is the opinion of Peter Alexander, a consultant working with Decades. Alexander was involved in the designs of Disney’s Epcot Center, Disney Tokyo and Universal Studios. He says the feasibility studies he’s performed on the proposed Arizona project give it a better chance of being successful than any other park he’s worked on.
“We feel [the] design is as good as Universal Studios, which is pretty good,” he said.
Choosing to locate the theme park in Eloy serves several purposes. For one, large pieces of land are cheaper and more readily available, said Jason Rose, a spokesman for the project. The other main reason, park designer Marty West said, is that it makes the park accessible to both the Phoenix and Tucson markets.
“It’s a blank canvas down there,” West said.
Located about 65 miles from downtown Phoenix and 60 miles from downtown Tucson, Alexander says 5.9 million people will live within 150 miles of Eloy — and the park — when it opens.
When that is factored in with the 16.6 million tourists that visit Arizona each year, Alexander says a conservative attendance estimate is about 6 million people per year.
In comparison, in 2006, more than 16 million people visited Disney World, almost 15 million to Disneyland and 4.7 million went to Universal Studios Hollywood, according to a theme park attendance report by Economics Research Associates.
Sen. Rebecca Rios, whose district includes Eloy, says she is excited about the prospects of the theme park coming to the area.
“If this thing comes to fruition, I think it would be amazing for the district,” the District 23 Democrat said, explaining it would bring much needed jobs and revenue to the region.
Though she admits she was skeptical when she learned the project was slated for Eloy, the feasibility studies and the lack of risk to taxpayers have made her a fan.
“It is undoubtedly an ambitious project, and at first glance it almost seems impossible,” she said. “I think, given what we’ve seen in terms of the population projections in that area, I believe it’s possible.”