Heritage USA
Encyclopedia
Heritage USA was a Christian
theme park, water park
, and residential complex built in Fort Mill
, South Carolina
, USA, by PTL Club
(short for "Praise The Lord") founders televangelist Jim Bakker
and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner. Much of the park, the area of which once comprised 2300 acre (9.3 km²; 3.6 sq mi), was built by noted church builder Roe Messner
, who later married Tammy Faye Bakker after Tammy's divorce from Jim Bakker. Pictures of the park, including the water park Heritage Island, remain accessible online. Since its closure in 1989, projects have been constructed on the grounds of the former theme park with varying success, and portions of the property have been sold to several companies.
The facilities included the 501-room Heritage Grand Hotel, Main Street USA, an indoor shopping complex, the Heritage Village Church, a 400-unit campground, The Jerusalem Amphitheater, conference facilities, a skating rink, prayer and counseling services, full cable TV network production studios, Bible and evangelism school, visitor retreat housing, staff and volunteer housing, timeshares and the Heritage Island water park and recreational facilities.
magazine noted that Jerry Falwell
"plunged" down a 163 feet (49.7 m) "hellish" water slide called the "Typhoon" with his suit on, fulfilling "a promise made during a fund-raising drive that netted $20 million for the debt-ridden PTL". This drive eventually took the PTL Club and Heritage USA from Jim Bakker. It is noted that "Bakker arranged for Falwell to take over PTL in March in an effort to avoid what he called a 'hostile takeover' of the television ministry by people threatening to expose a sexual encounter he admitted to having seven years earlier with church secretary Jessica Hahn
."
Photos circulated around the world of Falwell's fully clothed, typhoon water-slide at Heritage Island. It was selected as "The Best of Photojournalism" in the 1987 Pictures of the Year book presented by the National Press Photographers Association
. In September 1999, the Associated Press
selected it as one of the top 100 national photos of the century.
Starting in 1987, however, Jim Bakker's legal and personal troubles made headlines, and in September 1989 Hurricane Hugo
caused severe damage to many of the buildings. Heritage USA closed shortly after the storm.
in partnership with a Malaysian investment group, MUI Group
(Malayan United Industries Berhad). The property was renamed "New Heritage USA". The partnership between Cerullo and MUI ended after a disagreement between Cerullo and MUI over Cerullo's issuance of discount cards to New Heritage USA. MUI filed suit against Cerullo and ultimately bought out his interest in the venture, renaming the property Regent Park
. Cerullo retained control of PTL's cable network, which at the time was known as "The Inspirational Network", ultimately moving it to Charlotte, North Carolina
and renaming it "The New Inspirational Network". Today, it is known simply as "
Inspiration Network" or INSP. MUI is also the parent company of Laura Ashley plc
which moved its US headquarters and distribution center to the property. The corporate offices of Laura Ashley are located in the former PTL World Outreach Center, the pyramid-shaped building which formerly housed Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker's offices as well as those of the leaders of PTL. Since MUI purchased the building, it has been renamed "The Regent Building." Through its local subsidiary, Regent Carolina Corporation, MUI built a golf course and residential development on the majority of the former Heritage USA property. For a short period of time in the 1990s, MUI attempted to operate the 501-room hotel and resort under a management agreement with Radisson Hotels
, calling the property the "Radisson Grand Resort," but the complex was not successful as a secular venture without its religious emphasis and ultimately closed and fell into disrepair.
In December 2004, the remainder of the Heritage USA property was sold to Coulston Enterprises, owned by local developer and former MUI executive Earl Coulston. Coulston Enterprises sold portions of the property formerly housing the PTL Ministry to MorningStar Ministries of Charlotte, North Carolina, headed by Rick Joyner
, and Flames-of-Fire Ministries of Fort Mill, headed by Coulston's wife, Sabrina. MorningStar is in the process of ongoing renovations to the portions of the property purchased by the ministry, while the buildings that had housed Flames-of-Fire have since been sold to The Broadcast Group, a television and multi-media production company headed by Dr. Dale Hill, who formerly worked for Bakker and PTL. Coulston Enterprises has developed several new subdivisions featuring single family homes on the remainder of the property. The Coulston-owned residential portion of the property is called Emerald Lakes.
In January 2006, a 24-hour prayer ministry also began its endeavor at the former Heritage USA. The Zadok House of Prayer (ZHOP) formed with dozens of musicians and prayer leaders relocating from the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. In April 2009, ZHOP relocated from the grounds, and the building that housed their ministry, a revamped former PTL warehouse complex, has been sold to MorningStar Fellowship Church. It now houses MorningStar's K-12 private school.
In late 2006, the IRS placed a tax lien for $13.2 million on Regent Carolina Corporation, which had not yet transferred control of the golf course, common areas, and roads to the Regent Park homeowners association. The golf course was subsequently sold to a new company, Southern Gailes.
(HIM). MorningStar intends that the unfinished adjacent 21-story Heritage Towers will be expanded, completed and used as private residences as well as a living/retirement facility for 55 and older featuring studio apartments and residences of up to 2500 square feet (232.3 m²) in area. The renovation plans have been approved by York County, SC planners; while signs announcing the property have been posted, construction has not yet begun. HIM had its grand opening in September 2007, and its spiritual grand opening 2008 January 1.
The property encompassing the "Jerusalem Amphitheater" (a.k.a. "King's Arena") and campground is owned by Coulston Enterprises. With the exception of the campgrounds which are now known as Crown International Campgrounds, the outdoor amphitheater remains closed. A large portion of the amphitheater was demolished as a part of announced plans by Coulston to retrofit it with a roof and turn it into a venue for youth concerts. This never materialized and the amphitheater remains abandoned. The former "Barn Auditorium", "Total Learning Center", and "PTL Television Network Studios" were sold by Coulston Enterprises in April 2009 to Charlotte-based The Broadcast Group, a multimedia production and training company founded in 1986 by former PTL Television Network executive Dr. Dale Hill. The portion of the property encompassing these buildings is now known as "The Broadcast Group Complex".
In January 2009, a group billing themselves "Friends of The Upper Room" created an online petition to Flames-of-Fire Ministry and Coulston Enterprises, then owners of The Upper Room, asking them to consider donating the building to another ministry or selling it at a reduced price in order to save the property from rumored demolition plans. Initial indications from representatives of the property's owners in early 2008 were that the building may be demolished to make way for a Coulston-planned townhouse complex. However, later reports indicated that this project and others on the site may have been put on hold due to the sagging economy. Hence, the Upper Room building and other surrounding properties were placed up for sale. As of November 2010, over 565 concerned persons and interested parties had signed the petition asking that the building be spared and reopened as rumors continued to circulate that the building's owners planned to demolish it. In May 2010, the Friends of the Upper Room called for daily worldwide prayer beginning May 8, 2010 and asked interested persons from around the world to pray about the building's future and lift up its owners in prayerful support. On November 19, 2010, it was announced that the The Upper Room had been acquired by Christian concert promoter Russell James who planned to begin renovations December 1, 2010 with a scheduled January 1, 2011 reopening and it would be known as Upper Room Chapel. The facility has undergone extensive restoration both inside and out, with the famed outdoor "Walk of Faith" being restored and is again used for its original purpose, a house of intercessory prayer. It will ultimately once again be open twenty-four hours a day, with live video streaming so that persons visiting the website will be able to see the happenings at the chapel.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
theme park, water park
Water park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...
, and residential complex built in Fort Mill
Fort Mill, South Carolina
Fort Mill is a fast-growing suburban town in both York and Lancaster counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, and a suburb of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Rock Hill...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, USA, by PTL Club
The PTL Club
The PTL Club , later called The Jim and Tammy Show, and in its last days PTL Today and Heritage Today, was a Christian television program first hosted by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, which ran from 1974 to 1989...
(short for "Praise The Lord") founders televangelist Jim Bakker
Jim Bakker
James Orsen "Jim" Bakker is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister, and a former host of The PTL Club, a popular evangelical Christian television program.A sex scandal led to his resignation from the ministry...
and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner. Much of the park, the area of which once comprised 2300 acre (9.3 km²; 3.6 sq mi), was built by noted church builder Roe Messner
Roe Messner
Ronald Roe Messner is an American building contractor who has built more than 1,700 churches, including several megachurches....
, who later married Tammy Faye Bakker after Tammy's divorce from Jim Bakker. Pictures of the park, including the water park Heritage Island, remain accessible online. Since its closure in 1989, projects have been constructed on the grounds of the former theme park with varying success, and portions of the property have been sold to several companies.
History
Heritage USA opened in 1978, and by 1986 had become one of the top vacation-destinations in the US, behind only Walt Disney World and Disneyland. It attracted nearly 6 million visitors annually and employed around 2,500 people.The facilities included the 501-room Heritage Grand Hotel, Main Street USA, an indoor shopping complex, the Heritage Village Church, a 400-unit campground, The Jerusalem Amphitheater, conference facilities, a skating rink, prayer and counseling services, full cable TV network production studios, Bible and evangelism school, visitor retreat housing, staff and volunteer housing, timeshares and the Heritage Island water park and recreational facilities.
Falwell's slide
The September 21, 1987 issue of TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine noted that Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
"plunged" down a 163 feet (49.7 m) "hellish" water slide called the "Typhoon" with his suit on, fulfilling "a promise made during a fund-raising drive that netted $20 million for the debt-ridden PTL". This drive eventually took the PTL Club and Heritage USA from Jim Bakker. It is noted that "Bakker arranged for Falwell to take over PTL in March in an effort to avoid what he called a 'hostile takeover' of the television ministry by people threatening to expose a sexual encounter he admitted to having seven years earlier with church secretary Jessica Hahn
Jessica Hahn
Jessica Hahn is an American model and actress. She is best known for a sex scandal involving televangelist Jim Bakker while she was employed as a church secretary.-Jim Bakker scandal:...
."
Photos circulated around the world of Falwell's fully clothed, typhoon water-slide at Heritage Island. It was selected as "The Best of Photojournalism" in the 1987 Pictures of the Year book presented by the National Press Photographers Association
National Press Photographers Association
NPPA is the acronym for the National Press Photographers Association, founded in 1947. The organization is based in Durham, North Carolina and its mostly made up of still photographers, television videographers, editors, and students in the journalism field...
. In September 1999, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
selected it as one of the top 100 national photos of the century.
Downfall
In the midst of Heritage USA's high point, when it earned $126 million per year, the IRS revoked its tax exemption. Soon after Bakker's federal indictment and public condemnation over his sexual affair, attendance dropped at Heritage. Falwell argued that "PTL's Heritage USA complex in Fort Mill was competing unfairly against tax-paying tourist attractions, and that the tax-exempt ministry should be separated from the running of hotels and amusement parks." Under Falwell's leadership, Heritage USA sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with debts estimated at $72 million. The 165,000 people who gave $1,000 to Jim Bakker's planned Heritage USA hotel tower in return for promised four-day vacation stays received $6.54 each.Starting in 1987, however, Jim Bakker's legal and personal troubles made headlines, and in September 1989 Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...
caused severe damage to many of the buildings. Heritage USA closed shortly after the storm.
Redevelopment efforts
In 1991, the Heritage USA property was purchased for $52 million by San Diego evangelist Morris CerulloMorris Cerullo
Morris Cerullo is an American pentecostal televangelist.-Early life and ministry:Cerullo, whose evangelistic ministry is based in San Diego, California, was born in Passaic, New Jersey to a Russo Jewish/Italian family. His parents died in an automobile accident when he was only two years old...
in partnership with a Malaysian investment group, MUI Group
MUI Group
Malayan United Industries Berhad was founded in 1960. The main businesses of the group includes retailing, hotels, food and confectionery, financial services, property, travel and tourism...
(Malayan United Industries Berhad). The property was renamed "New Heritage USA". The partnership between Cerullo and MUI ended after a disagreement between Cerullo and MUI over Cerullo's issuance of discount cards to New Heritage USA. MUI filed suit against Cerullo and ultimately bought out his interest in the venture, renaming the property Regent Park
Regent Park-Carolinas
Regent Park is the new name given to a portion the former Heritage USA property in Fort Mill, South Carolina, just south of Charlotte, North Carolina that was originally developed by evangelist Jim Bakker and his then wife Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, founders of the PTL Ministry...
. Cerullo retained control of PTL's cable network, which at the time was known as "The Inspirational Network", ultimately moving it to Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
and renaming it "The New Inspirational Network". Today, it is known simply as "
Inspiration Network" or INSP. MUI is also the parent company of Laura Ashley plc
Laura Ashley plc
Laura Ashley plc is a British textile design company now controlled by the MUI Group of Malaysia. It was founded by Bernard Ashley, an engineer, and his wife Laura Ashley in 1953 then grew over the next 20 years„“ to become an international retail chain. Sales totalled over £276 million in 2000...
which moved its US headquarters and distribution center to the property. The corporate offices of Laura Ashley are located in the former PTL World Outreach Center, the pyramid-shaped building which formerly housed Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker's offices as well as those of the leaders of PTL. Since MUI purchased the building, it has been renamed "The Regent Building." Through its local subsidiary, Regent Carolina Corporation, MUI built a golf course and residential development on the majority of the former Heritage USA property. For a short period of time in the 1990s, MUI attempted to operate the 501-room hotel and resort under a management agreement with Radisson Hotels
Radisson Hotels
Radisson Hotels is one of the leading, full-service global hotel companies with more than 420 locations in 73 countries. The first Radisson Hotel was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1909, and was named after the 17th-century French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson...
, calling the property the "Radisson Grand Resort," but the complex was not successful as a secular venture without its religious emphasis and ultimately closed and fell into disrepair.
In December 2004, the remainder of the Heritage USA property was sold to Coulston Enterprises, owned by local developer and former MUI executive Earl Coulston. Coulston Enterprises sold portions of the property formerly housing the PTL Ministry to MorningStar Ministries of Charlotte, North Carolina, headed by Rick Joyner
Rick Joyner
Rick Joyner heads MorningStar Ministries , which he cofounded with his wife Julie Joyner in 1985...
, and Flames-of-Fire Ministries of Fort Mill, headed by Coulston's wife, Sabrina. MorningStar is in the process of ongoing renovations to the portions of the property purchased by the ministry, while the buildings that had housed Flames-of-Fire have since been sold to The Broadcast Group, a television and multi-media production company headed by Dr. Dale Hill, who formerly worked for Bakker and PTL. Coulston Enterprises has developed several new subdivisions featuring single family homes on the remainder of the property. The Coulston-owned residential portion of the property is called Emerald Lakes.
In January 2006, a 24-hour prayer ministry also began its endeavor at the former Heritage USA. The Zadok House of Prayer (ZHOP) formed with dozens of musicians and prayer leaders relocating from the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. In April 2009, ZHOP relocated from the grounds, and the building that housed their ministry, a revamped former PTL warehouse complex, has been sold to MorningStar Fellowship Church. It now houses MorningStar's K-12 private school.
In late 2006, the IRS placed a tax lien for $13.2 million on Regent Carolina Corporation, which had not yet transferred control of the golf course, common areas, and roads to the Regent Park homeowners association. The golf course was subsequently sold to a new company, Southern Gailes.
The former Heritage USA property today
The Heritage Grand Hotel has been completely restored and continues to be used as a hotel and conference center, with some of the former interior hotel rooms being combined and converted into private condominiums. The portion of the hotel comprising the condos is known as Heritage Court. The hotel's atrium is used as a church for MorningStar's local congregation, MorningStar Fellowship Church. While the hotel is still known as the Heritage Grand Hotel, the complex which comprises the hotel, shops & conference area has been renamed Heritage International MinistriesHeritage International Ministries
Heritage International Ministries is the new name given to the former Heritage USA facilities in Fort Mill, South Carolina purchased by MorningStar Fellowship Church in 2004...
(HIM). MorningStar intends that the unfinished adjacent 21-story Heritage Towers will be expanded, completed and used as private residences as well as a living/retirement facility for 55 and older featuring studio apartments and residences of up to 2500 square feet (232.3 m²) in area. The renovation plans have been approved by York County, SC planners; while signs announcing the property have been posted, construction has not yet begun. HIM had its grand opening in September 2007, and its spiritual grand opening 2008 January 1.
The property encompassing the "Jerusalem Amphitheater" (a.k.a. "King's Arena") and campground is owned by Coulston Enterprises. With the exception of the campgrounds which are now known as Crown International Campgrounds, the outdoor amphitheater remains closed. A large portion of the amphitheater was demolished as a part of announced plans by Coulston to retrofit it with a roof and turn it into a venue for youth concerts. This never materialized and the amphitheater remains abandoned. The former "Barn Auditorium", "Total Learning Center", and "PTL Television Network Studios" were sold by Coulston Enterprises in April 2009 to Charlotte-based The Broadcast Group, a multimedia production and training company founded in 1986 by former PTL Television Network executive Dr. Dale Hill. The portion of the property encompassing these buildings is now known as "The Broadcast Group Complex".
In January 2009, a group billing themselves "Friends of The Upper Room" created an online petition to Flames-of-Fire Ministry and Coulston Enterprises, then owners of The Upper Room, asking them to consider donating the building to another ministry or selling it at a reduced price in order to save the property from rumored demolition plans. Initial indications from representatives of the property's owners in early 2008 were that the building may be demolished to make way for a Coulston-planned townhouse complex. However, later reports indicated that this project and others on the site may have been put on hold due to the sagging economy. Hence, the Upper Room building and other surrounding properties were placed up for sale. As of November 2010, over 565 concerned persons and interested parties had signed the petition asking that the building be spared and reopened as rumors continued to circulate that the building's owners planned to demolish it. In May 2010, the Friends of the Upper Room called for daily worldwide prayer beginning May 8, 2010 and asked interested persons from around the world to pray about the building's future and lift up its owners in prayerful support. On November 19, 2010, it was announced that the The Upper Room had been acquired by Christian concert promoter Russell James who planned to begin renovations December 1, 2010 with a scheduled January 1, 2011 reopening and it would be known as Upper Room Chapel. The facility has undergone extensive restoration both inside and out, with the famed outdoor "Walk of Faith" being restored and is again used for its original purpose, a house of intercessory prayer. It will ultimately once again be open twenty-four hours a day, with live video streaming so that persons visiting the website will be able to see the happenings at the chapel.
Current religious uses of the property
- Heritage International Ministries — Heritage Grand Hotel & Conference Center home page.
- Heritage Towers – 21-story senior high-rise living tower (under construction)
- World Outreach Center – church operating in the former Heritage USA Welcome Center building
- All Nations Church – home of Mahesh Chavda Ministries – operating in the former Fort Hope complex
- Daily Balance With Kim Jacobs – talk show taped from the former PTL Network studios (now known as The Broadcast Group Complex)
- Upper Room Chapel - a place of prayer, worship and outreach
Current secular uses of the property
- Regent Park Golf Club & Academy — Regent Park Home page.
- Regent Park Homeowner's Association Website
- The Broadcast Group – A Multimedia Production Facility, Television Studios and Auditorium housed in the former PTL Television Network complex
- Crown International Campground - Former PTL campgrounds - newly remodeled.
Miscellaneous
- Standing But Not Operating — Photos of the past and present. Includes 145 pictures of the park as it stood in 2005.
- Heritage USA Group — Current Heritage USA photos & construction updates.