Heritage USA facts for kids
 |
|
| Religious Theme Park & Christian Resort; Cable Television Network Broadcast & Production Facility | |
| Industry | Amusement park/hotel operator Cable television network |
| Fate | Chapter 11 bankruptcy |
| Founded | 1978 (closed 1989), hotel & convention center reopened in 2004 as Heritage International Ministries (NOTE: Television studios and production facility reopened in 2009 by The Broadcast Group) |
| Defunct | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Fort Mill, South Carolina, U.S. |
|
Key people
|
Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner |
|
Number of employees
|
~ 2500 |
| Parent | Heritage Village Church & Missionary Fellowship, Inc. |
Heritage USA was a large Christian-themed water park, theme park, and living area in Fort Mill, South Carolina. It was built by a TV preacher named Jim Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye Messner. They were also the founders of a TV show called The PTL Club.
The park covered a huge area, about 2,300 acres (9.3 km²). It was built by a church builder named Roe Messner. You can still find pictures of the park online, including its water park called Heritage Island. After Heritage USA closed in 1989, parts of the land were sold. New buildings and projects have been built there since then.
The old Heritage USA buildings in Fort Mill, South Carolina, were bought by MorningStar Fellowship Church in 2004. They renamed the area Heritage International Ministries (H.I.M.).
Contents
What Was Heritage USA?
Heritage USA first opened its doors in 1978. By 1986, it was a very popular place, attracting almost 6 million visitors every year. About 2,500 people worked there. The park had many different parts.
Park Features and Attractions
- Heritage Grand Hotel: A large hotel with 501 rooms.
- Main Street USA: A fun area with shops and attractions.
- Indoor Shopping Complex: A place to buy things indoors.
- Heritage Village Church: A church building.
- Upper Room: A special place for prayer.
- Campground: A place for camping with 400 spots.
- The Jerusalem Amphitheater: A large outdoor stage.
- King's Castle: A building that was planned for fun activities.
- Skating Rink: A place to go roller skating.
- Prayer and Counseling Services: Places for spiritual help.
- Cable Television Studios: Where TV shows were made.
- Bible and Evangelism School: A school to learn about the Bible.
- Visitor Retreat Housing: Places for guests to stay.
- Staff and Volunteer Housing: Homes for people who worked there.
- Timeshares: Vacation homes that people could buy for certain times of the year.
- Heritage Island Water Park: A water park with fun rides and pools.
Heritage USA was once the third-largest theme park in the United States by how many people visited. It was only smaller than Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California. People often called Heritage USA a Christian version of Disneyland. Jim Bakker had big plans to make the park even larger before it closed.
The Famous Water Slide Moment
In 1987, a TV preacher named Jerry Falwell went down a huge water slide called the "Typhoon." This slide was 163 feet (50 meters) tall! He did this while wearing a suit. He had promised to do it if people donated enough money to help the PTL Club, which was in debt. This fundraising helped raise $20 million. Pictures and videos of Falwell going down the slide became very famous around the world.
Why Did Heritage USA Close?
At its busiest time, Heritage USA made $126 million each year. However, the IRS (the US tax agency) took away its special tax-free status. This meant the park had to pay taxes like other businesses. Because of this and other problems, fewer people visited the park.
Jerry Falwell, who had taken over the park's leadership for a time, said that the park was competing unfairly with other attractions that paid taxes. He believed the church part of PTL should be separate from its business parts. Under his leadership, Heritage USA asked for special legal protection because it owed about $72 million. This is called Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Many people had donated $1,000 each to Jim Bakker's plan for a new hotel tower at Heritage USA. In return, they were promised a four-day vacation stay every year for life. About 165,000 people donated. When the park closed, each donor only received about $6.54 back.
Starting in 1987, Jim Bakker faced many personal problems that were reported in the news. Then, in September 1989, Hurricane Hugo hit the area. The storm caused a lot of damage to many of the park's buildings. Heritage USA closed down shortly after the hurricane.
What Happened to the Land?
After Heritage USA closed, different groups tried to buy and rebuild the property.
Early Redevelopment Efforts
In 1991, a preacher named Morris Cerullo bought the property for $52 million. He worked with a company from Malaysia called MUI Group. They renamed the property "New Heritage USA." However, Cerullo and MUI Group had disagreements. MUI Group ended up buying out Cerullo's share and renamed the property Regent Park.
MUI Group built a golf course and homes on most of the old Heritage USA land. For a short time in the 1990s, they also ran the Heritage Grand Hotel as the "Radisson Grand Resort." But it didn't do well as a regular hotel and eventually closed down.
New Owners and Renovations
In 2004, the rest of the property was sold to Earl Coulston, a local developer. Coulston then sold parts of the land to MorningStar Ministries and Flames-of-Fire Ministries.
MorningStar Ministries has been working to fix up the parts of the property they bought. This includes the tall Heritage tower. In 2009, MorningStar Fellowship Church also bought a building that used to be a warehouse. It now holds their K-12 school, Comenius School of Creative Leadership.
The buildings that belonged to Flames-of-Fire Ministries were sold to The Broadcast Group, a company that makes TV and multimedia shows. Earl Coulston's company has also built new neighborhoods with houses and restaurants on other parts of the land.
In 2006, a 24-hour prayer ministry called The Zadok House of Prayer (ZHOP) opened at the former Heritage USA. They later moved out in 2009. In 2018, Rick Joyner, who leads MorningStar Ministries, said he was interested in rebuilding the theme park.
Important Buildings Today
Many of the original buildings from Heritage USA have been given new life.
The Barn and TV Studios
In 2009, The Broadcast Group leased and later bought the area that included the old Barn auditorium, the Total Learning Center, and the PTL Television Network Studios. They quickly fixed up the TV studios and Total Learning Center. The Barn Auditorium was renovated and reopened in 2012 as "The Barn at Regent Park."
In 2014, The Broadcast Group moved their operations. Soon after, Antioch International Church bought all these buildings and the land around them. Antioch Church now uses the former Barn Auditorium as their new church home. This whole area is now called The River Place.
The Upper Room Chapel
The Upper Room was a special prayer building at Heritage USA. For a while, there were worries that it might be torn down. In 2009, a group called "Friends of The Upper Room" started a petition to save it.
In November 2010, it was announced that a Christian concert promoter named Russell James had bought The Upper Room. He planned to renovate it and reopen it as the Upper Room Chapel. The building has been fixed up a lot. The outdoor "Walk of Faith" has also been restored. It is now used as a place for prayer and is planned to be open 24 hours a day.
Heritage Grand Hotel Today
The Heritage Grand Hotel has been fully restored and is still used as a hotel and conference center. Some of the hotel rooms have been combined to create private apartments. The hotel's main area is now used as a church by MorningStar's local group. While it's still called the Heritage Grand Hotel, the whole complex, including shops and conference areas, is now known as Heritage International Ministries (HIM). HIM had its big opening in 2007.
King's Castle Demolition
In 2013, developer Earl Coulston started to tear down "The King's Castle." This building was meant to be a large restaurant and later became an arcade and go-kart track. Construction on it had stopped when Heritage USA went bankrupt.
The castle was later finished by a new owner, but it eventually closed and fell apart. MorningStar Fellowship Church, which owned part of the building, decided it was too damaged to fix. Earl Coulston offered to pay for the demolition because it was also on his property. The demolition started, stopped for permits, and then finished. The site is now cleared.
Jerusalem Amphitheater and Campground
The land with the "Jerusalem Amphitheater" (also called "King's Arena") and the campground is owned by Earl Coulston. The campgrounds have been renovated and are now called Crown Cove RV Park. The outdoor amphitheater was torn down in 2012. It was originally planned to be covered with a roof for youth concerts, but that never happened.
