BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. – The Hunger Games-themed park that was in the works for northwest metro Atlanta has been scrapped, according to a letter from the park’s chairman.
After nearly two years of planning and fundraising, AVATRON Park is being placed “on hold indefinitely.”
The $750 million park, touted as an immersive virtual reality park, was supposed to be anchored by an area based off the hit dystopian books and movie, The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence. It would have been located in Emerson, Ga. in Bartow County.
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But in an open letter dated Dec. 2, AVATRON Park’s CEO said that it wouldn’t happen. In the letter, first sent to the Cartersville Daily Tribune-News, Chairman David Garrett III wrote that he wanted to ensure the people of Bartow County heard the news first.
According to Garrett, the park was just a few days away from passing a major financing milestone when one of its key partners withdrew from the project. Because of that, AVATRON Park decided it would not proceed forward with the park, saying “no more time can be given or pushed back.”
Garrett wrote that while they are disappointed to have to shut down the park, he took a moment to thank the residents of Bartow County for their support in the company’s endeavors.
“We are filled with gratitude for the overwhelming support and hospitality you’ve provided at every step of the way,” Garrett said. “The leadership in Bartow County and Georgia did everything possible to aid our efforts, and we grew to treasure all that is so special about this wonderful community.”
According to the Cartersville Daily Tribune-News, Emerson's mayor Al Pallone called the loss of the part a great disappointment.
“We were really excited about having such a great addition to our community,” he told the paper. “But that’s the way these things sometime work out.”
Garrett ended the letter by extending his thanks, saying “there is no other place we would have rather had AVATRON Park call home.”
You can read the full letter below:
To our Bartow County and Georgia Friends and Colleagues of AVATRON Park:
After some 24 months of extensive planning and project fundraising, and despite near completion of Phase 1 project components, the AVATRON Park project is closing its doors.
Because of your tremendous and unwavering support of all things AVATRON, we pause to share with you the rationale for shutting down a project so near and dear to me and our team as well as Georgia and Bartow County residents.
With the anticipation of being just a few days away from a final finance completion announcement, one of our key partners had to suspend its participation. While many would encourage us to look at this as simply a timing situation, we are of the shared belief that no more time can be given or pushed back. Therefore, the AVATRON project is being placed on hold indefinitely.
As we walk away from such an incredible concept and proposed entertainment experience like no other, we are filled with gratitude for the overwhelming support and hospitality you’ve provided at every step of the way. The leadership in Bartow County and Georgia did everything possible to aid our efforts and we grew to treasure all that is so special about this wonderful community.
If this is goodbye, we thank you one last time for your generosity and belief in AVATRON. If this is a ”not-yet” situation, then we thank you for your patience and understanding.
Either way, our time here was a positive and memorable experience that is marked with new friendships and the exhilaration of pushing the boundaries of our imaginations – much like the experience we had envisioned for each of our future guests.
Thank you again, Bartow County and Georgia – there is no other place we would have rather had AVATRON Park call home.
With my sincerest thanks and respect,
David C. Garrett III
Chairman
Avatron Park
