First cabin re-attached Melbourne's Star observation wheel

More than four years after its closure, and more than 18 months after reconstruction of began, the Melbourne Star observation wheel has this week had the first of its 21 cabins reinstalled.

Melbourne newspaper The Age reported that the first passenger pod of the giant observation wheel was being installed on Wednesday, the cabinshaving been in storage since the wheel shut down early in 2009.

With each cabin taking several hours to install, work on completing the Melbourne Star is expected to continue into September.

At this time, the wheel's manager, the Melbourne Star Management Group (MSMG) has yet to advise of a reopening date, although The Age did report an MSMG statement that reinstalling the cabins was an "important milestone" to complete the project.

On their website, MSMG state "Melbourne's giant observation wheel is now clearly taking shape against the city's skyline.

"In coming months, Melbourne Star will be making a series of announcements about a range of exciting new features and technologies that will enable the Star to deliver a unique experience and, an informative discovery of Melbourne."

Originally known as the Southern Star Observation Wheel, the troubled $100 million attraction closed after just 40 days of operation when cracks appeared in the structure.

Initially the cracks were thought to have been caused by the high temperatures of the 2008/2009 summer but problems in wheel's original design were subsequently discovered.

Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation, the designers and manufacturers of the Southern Star, undertook to carry out remedial works under the original warranty which, as of mid 2009, were expected to take a year to complete.

For more information go to www.melbournestar.com/

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