At the center of the Seven Realms stood the Omnicolor Fountain, which put on shows several times a day until the park's official closing.
History
OmniPark was founded by Dalton M. Teague, a Texas oil billionaire with degrees in engineering and biology. In a 1979 interview with Life Magazine, Teague attributed his original idea for the park to his own wide-ranging scientific interests, as well as to his realization that "California has its Disneyland and Florida has its EPCOT Center — so why shouldn't the great state of Texas have her own world-class theme park?"
Using his own private funds, Teague purchased 120 acres of farmland near Odessa, Texas (for an undisclosed sum) in May 1974. He then hired a core team of "Technosophers" including engineers Harry Peale and Roger Clarendon, designers Beth Bachmeier and Elijah Shattuck, and writers and storyboard artists Chuck Walcott, Denise Olivetti, Yamasato Masaru and Jean Bartlett.
By spring of 1975, Teague and his team had completed a series of storyboards, architectural blueprints and animatronic designs, through which they secured at least $500 million in investment capital from a variety of public and private sources (several of which have never been disclosed). Through a combination of this capital and Teague family funds, construction on OmniPark began in February of 1975.
The park's official grand opening was May 19, 1977, and initial attendance was disappointing — a fact Teague blamed on The park's location in West Texas, far from any other tourist destination. In response, Teague invested heavily in a nationwide advertising campaign; and the city of Odessa offered financial incentives to entrepreneurs who founded hotels, restaurants and other tourism-oriented businesses near the park. Over the next several seasons, a thriving community began to develop in the surrounding area; and by March 1978, OmniPark was hosting upwards of 35,000 guests per day [citation needed].
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