After more than eight months of promoting its planned gondola, Rock City addressed what it called the “final issue” before an upcoming vote on the project: How noisy would the ropeway lift up Lookout Mountain be?
The answer, if you’re standing at the property line closest to the planned gondola route, is quieter than a modern refrigerator, Rock City said Wednesday.
The 94-year-old family-owned tourist attraction is partnering with Austrian firm Doppelmayr, the world’s largest ropeway system manufacturer, to design a gondola that would launch from Rock City property in Georgia up to its mountaintop rock gardens. Doppelmayr has built 15,700 ropeways in 97 countries.
Based on sound readings from a similar system in Austria, Doppelmayr expects the Lookout Mountain gondola to be around 39 decibels at the nearest residence, Rock City said in a press release. The closest residence is 280 feet from the gondola, the company said.
That noise level is lower than the ambient sound present at Rock City’s main attraction in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, according to the company.