New owners moving in while 2008 Hard Rock Park crew reunites

Dozens of those from the 2008 crew waited Monday morning outside in very chilly weather for their shot to rock again.

By: SCNow Staff | SCNow
Published: March 02, 2009

Monday belonged to the former employees of Hard Rock Park.

Dozens of those from the 2008 crew waited Monday morning outside in very chilly weather for their shot to rock again.

As of 3 p.m. Monday, there are 475 applications now on-file at the Park Recruitment Center, and 200 applications received on-line at CareerBuilder.com, according to a spokesperson with the park.

"It was the most happy; fun place to work that I've ever worked at. I'm 48 years old, I've done a lot of things, but this was the happiest job that I ever had. Everybody here was happy, you come to work, and there was smiles on people's faces, nobody grumbling," former park Area Supervisor, Libby Stuart, said.

"These people when I walked up here today, everybody's hugging each other, ready to go back to work, ready to be a team again."

For some people, they haven’t been able to land a job since they were laid off when the park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.

"Everybody was hurting a little bit, and we were all praying that it would work out and we're glad to hear that we got some life left in us over here," former park Merchandise Assistant Supervisor, Aaron Hardee, said.

The new ownership says they are trying to stay on schedule to get ready for the Memorial Day weekend opening.

"You name it, we're working on it. Everything from sales and marketing, to the operations plans, to you know, systems, maintenance," Sales and Marketing Director from the Baker Leisure Group, John Stein, said.

Stein just recently moved to the Grand Strand from a position where he was based in Orlando, FL with the Baker Leisure Group as the Senior Consultant. The Baker Leisure Group is part of a group of investors with FPI MB Entertainment, LLC who purchased the park in bankruptcy court in February.

"We're just excited to get the reception we've received from the community, from individuals. Everyone's excited about the future of the park here in Myrtle Beach, and last week it's been a whirlwind, but very, very positive, very upbeat."