The station is going up!

The roof just went up on the gift shop! More progress.

Does anyone know why it's 2 stories high?

That could be where the elevator is going.

If you study the latest station rendering closely i believe you can see the elevator on the outside of station between the main station and the 2 story gift building... I Still haven't figured out the nature of that second story on the gift building.. I was thinking maybe it could be accessible from that outer deck area between the 2 buildings near where the elevator appears to open up onto the second level , but after studying the rendering there apperas to be no connection on the second level to the upper gift shop.

Since the operating booth is so tiny i could totally see that second story area being useful for ride op sort of things and general storage and it being accessible from the station platform.

I can also envision a rider loose article storage system wall that projects into the station from said elevator, that divides the entering and exiting guests at about 2/3 to 1/3 respectively. you deposit articles into a rotating long drum of sorts that opens from 1 side to the other based on your entry and exit time(2 vs 3 trains). thus eliminating the double cue time at the same interface. but thats stoner speculation....

And upon further reflection, a communications, light management, and computer control office makes more sense, as the needle watch tower is prob a lot less comfortable.

Storage?

Secret employee lounge? :)

I was thinking the very high ceiling was for keeping more merchandise on the shelves. Such as the shirt racks you see in department stores like Kohl's or JC Penny's, where the employee will have to use a long pole with hook to get something down. Isn't the on-ride photo booth going to located in here as well? You'll probably view your photos from up high.

Tony tweeted that the storage tracks will remain uncovered

That's very strange. The fact that the storage tracks were built like ones that will be enclosed makes me wonder if there was a building planned that got cut later in construction.

Pouring concrete today here as well. Looks like the lines by the lake are poured and they are doing the observation area now. Should look very different by the end of the day.

Very strange that it's not going to be covered.

Is it really that strange? How many coasters actually have covered storage tracks?

Raptor
Blue Streak
Mean Streak
Mantis (not totally sure on that one, never ride it)
Wicket Twister - doesn't count, no storage track

Am i missing anything else?

^ The strange thing is not that a coaster at Cedar Point will have its trains exposed to the elements all year long, because like you said, that's the norm. The strange thing is that GateKeeper's storage tracks were clearly built in the style of B&M storage tracks that are in a complete "walls and roof" building.

Yes that's what I was thinking. Also, most B&M coasters have covered storage tracks.

I was the one who asked the question on twitter and I asked if the storage track would get covered. Maybe he though I meant covered as in an enclosed building? He did answer and say open --- So that could mean open as in no walls. I just don't see the point in building support structures above where the trains will be if there would be no roof. This won't add or take anything away from the riding experience, it just seems like an unfinished structure... I don't have any structural engineering background so the supports could be crucial to the overall storage track structure, and some parks could take advantage of that and add a roof.

^ A lot of B&Ms have those overhead beams but don't have a roof. I'm more interested in the way the platform was built and the lack of handrails.

DSShives said:
Is it really that strange? How many coasters actually have covered storage tracks?

Raptor
Blue Streak
Mean Streak
Mantis (not totally sure on that one, never ride it)
Wicket Twister - doesn't count, no storage track

Am i missing anything else?

Mine Ride

And Disaster Transport even had an outdoor storage track, which is ironic if you think about it.

What was really ironic was explaining to people that the indoor roller coaster was down for rain.

There are cable rails around the storage tracks.

^ Exactly, if the storage tracks were planned to be exposed from the beginning, real handrails would have been installed a long time ago.