Nearly 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel to open on Carolina Beach boardwalk

The Carolina Beach boardwalk could soon have an exciting new feature: A 95-foot-tall Ferris wheel that is expected to open by mid-April, according to Star News Online.

The enormous ride is replacing the smaller Ferris wheel that greeted guests on the boardwalk last year.

Ken Cofer, who has owned the ride site for 11 years, told Star News that the new Ferris wheel is scheduled to be the beach's first permanent amusement ride in the past 15 years.

Carolina Beach town council voted to approve the new ride last week. It's expected to open later this month, and the lease runs through March of 2023.

Cofer says the idea of bringing a permanent ride to the boardwalk has been discussed for many years.

Bringing a permanent ride to the boardwalk has been talked about for years, according to Cofer, who plans for the ride to operate on weekends-only until Memorial Day, when it'll begin running full-time. Then, in November the ride would shut down for winter, but would remain in-place as a permanent structure, which could be used for special events.

“Our intention is to have probably the largest carnival we’ve had here from Memorial Day to Labor Day,” he told Star News.