Developer Looking to Bring Live-Action Terror Theme Park Z World to Detroit

Steve Barton   |  

Jul 3, 2012

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As anyone who’s visited Detroit recently can attest, the city needs help. One enterprising developer has an idea that could bring hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs to the area… along with a horde of zombies.

The UK’s Daily Mail Online reports that entrepreneur Marc Siwak wants to create a live-action terror theme park to be called “Z World” on Motor City’s rundown and abandoned streets. Customers would pay to be chased by professional actors and try to seek shelter in ghostly homes, factories, and businesses.

Siwak said it would breathe fresh life into the rundown city, but critics say it is an “exploitative and insensitive ploy” to profit from Detroit’s problems.

Detroit has become known in recent years for pioneering creative solutions like urban farming and pedestrian-friendly greenway trails as soaring budget deficits and a declining population have forced businesses and the authorities to think outside the box. Siwak, who has thus far raised $2,800 of the $145,000 needed, said his theme park could be the perfect solution. If you want to contribute, click here for more info. The deadline is Friday, August 10th.

He told CBS Detroit: “The city can only have so many urban farms or similar uses for vacant plots.” And he revealed he is already receiving resumes from hundreds of residents keen to work at the tourist attraction. He added: “While zombies are great, the real neat thing about this project is the potential to inject some life into a forgotten neighborhood – with the opportunity to work with neighborhood groups and organizations.”

The project would follow in the footsteps of the Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse, where thrill-seekers wield paintball guns to play hide-and-seek with undead zombies in a formerly abandoned truck stop.