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Air Boingo Bungee Jumping Tower At 4727 Oakshire Dr.


Highway6

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  • 2 years later...

Completely random thought... and I may have imagined the whole thing.

But does anyone remember there being a bungee tower right off the West loop, North-bound side, somewhere between Bellaire and Memorial Park ? This would have only been there briefly, seems like a few months, probably around 1990...

Anyone remember this ? have photos ? or was i really just imaging things on my daily commute to school....

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Bump.. cuz this was a serious question.

I commuted the west loop twice a day for 9 yrs to go to school.

I distinctly remember a bungee tower being erected sometime around jr high.. I distinctly remember thinking.."yah, thats gonna cause rubbernecking being right on the freeway".. i remember it not lasting long.

I really am curious if anyone remembers this.. nobody i've ever asked in the past does.

Google searches bring up nothing.

Id really like to know if i was imagining this and if i did, what was it i saw that made me remember it as a bungee jump.

Anybody got anything ??

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  • 1 month later...
Bump.. cuz this was a serious question.

I commuted the west loop twice a day for 9 yrs to go to school.

I distinctly remember a bungee tower being erected sometime around jr high.. I distinctly remember thinking.."yah, thats gonna cause rubbernecking being right on the freeway".. i remember it not lasting long.

I really am curious if anyone remembers this.. nobody i've ever asked in the past does.

Google searches bring up nothing.

Id really like to know if i was imagining this and if i did, what was it i saw that made me remember it as a bungee jump.

Anybody got anything ??

I vaguely remember the bungee tower. Searching the Chron archives I only found one mention here:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=1994_1206347

"Afton Oaks Civic Club responds quickly to anything that threatens the residential character of the neighborhood. The association was instrumental in shutting down the
bungee jumping operation that was located nearby at Loop 610
."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yeahh.. I'm glad someone else remembered this. Anyone have any photos ?

Bmil - i remember the nursery being on the NW corner of that interchange, i remember during christmas it always being well lit like a giant tent to advertise the christmas trees.. I dont remember the waterslide though, that may have been before my time.

The bungeee jump was definitely on the inside of the loop though, least the one i remember.. and the chron article seems to back that up. Thanks for that find Stjnky.

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=1992_1086872

Air Boingo Houston obtained a city building permit in September to construct a 67-foot launching tower on the 610 Loop feeder road between Richmond and Westheimer.

But the attraction, due to open Oct. 17, quickly generated the ire of nearby Afton Oaks residents, who say the bungee jumpers will create a traffic hazard.

I vaguely remember the bungee tower. Searching the Chron archives I only found one mention here:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=1994_1206347

Date: WED 10/14/1992

"Afton Oaks Civic Club responds quickly to anything that threatens the residential character of the neighborhood. The association was instrumental in shutting down the
bungee jumping operation that was located nearby at Loop 610
."

It was on the SW corner of the 610/59 interchange if I remember correctly, where the big hill used to be that was a waterslide and later an ampitheater was built there. It's all gone now due to the Westpark tollway.
Edited by Highway6
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  • 1 year later...

I wonder if they'll have bungee jumping off of it.

how awesome would that be? Years back there was a bungee crane set up at Richmond and the loop where the Best Buy is now. Not as scenic as a river gorge, but hey. I loved jumping out of a perfectly good plane, so I'm definitely down for the balloon.

:( I miss Astroworld. I love rides.

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  • 10 years later...

So many places!  Castle Golf and Games was on the west side of the loop between I-10 and 290. The go cart track was just to the north. 

 

There was a waterslide hill inside the loop where 290 comes in during, at least, the 80's.

 

The bungee jump tower was inside the loop at Richmond. 

 

The original Peppermint Park was on the North loop near TC Jester.  It moved to 59 south in the 80's or 90's.

Edited by neuman
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  • The title was changed to Air Boingo Bungee Jumping Tower On Richmond Ave.
  • 7 months later...

Well, this got me intrigued, so I looked up a few permits and have a bit to add to the story. Air Boingo's first permits in Houston were for a lot adjacent to Malibur Grand Prix further North up the Loop. However, it seems this was changed relatively early on, and the permit was reassigned to the Galleria location. The death knell came from the City Council, which outlawed bungee jumping in Houston. As far as I can tell, Air Boingo never officially opened for business, at least here in Houston. The tower was disassembled, moved to South Padre Island, and placed next to an already operating adventure park there. It operated as a separate attraction under the Air Boingo name for years. Here's some great footage of someone taking the plunge in 1993, right after it made the move down there. Interestingly, as seen in the video, two of the arms were removed. I looked online at photos of other Air Boingo towers, and they all only have two arms. At some point in the late 90s, the park got its own much taller bungee jump tower. AirBoingo was absorbed into the park, although still a separate ticket, and reimagined. One arm was lowered to become a "kiddie bungee jump," and the other was removed and replaced with a crane arm and ride vehicle. It was removed in 2017, and it looks like the original company (or a descendant) held onto the tower up until then.

Edited by SpaceGhost
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  • The title was changed to Air Boingo Bungee Jumping Tower At 4727 Oakshire Dr.

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