Virginia Beach, Va. - The flashing lights. The buzz of the crowd. The hum of motors rotating a Ferris wheel's gondolas 200 feet into the air.
All the things that make a proposed Oceanfront attraction exciting for city leaders also make it an annoyance to the neighboring hotel.
Owners at the 10-story Dolphin Inn said no one from the city asked them if they wanted a giant Ferris wheel next door, a wheel that would tower above the building. And in a letter to the city manager they say they don't.
The SkyWheel as it's called "... would be a nuisance to our hotel guests, as would the noise and loss of privacy associated with 'SkyWheel' patrons peering down from their glass-enclosed gondolas ..."
While some see it as an attraction, others see it as a rotating perch for peeping toms, spying into the hotel's top, and most private balconies.
Hotel owners were not available to talk about their objections today. An executive at Gold Key PHR said the letter speaks for itself. And the letter isn't asking to scrap the ShyWheel. The owners just want it built somewhere else.
