More than five weeks after a 5-year-old boy died at Atlanta’s Sun Dial restaurant, the iconic, revolving attraction remained closed Monday. And it’s not known when it may again be open for business.
Charlie Holt, of Charlotte, N.C., was having lunch with his parents on April 14 when his head was pinned between a wall and a table as the dining area rotated shortly after 3 p.m., Atlanta police said. The Holt family had been seated by a window, but Charlie apparently wandered away from the table.
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Charlie somehow managed to get only his head stuck between a wall and a rounded bench, and he screamed for help, witnesses said.
“He must’ve put his head in that position just perfectly, perfect timing,” Gustavo Anzola said the day after the boy’s death. “Everything came together perfectly for this kid to get himself in this position.”
Several people inside the restaurant rushed to help the boy’s parents free him, but he lost consciousness. He died after being taken by ambulance to Grady Memorial Hospital.
“Words cannot express the depths of our sorrow,” George Reed, hotel manager of Westin Peachtree Plaza, said in an emailed statement after the boy’s death. “Our thoughts remain with the family."
A spokeswoman for the Sun Dial has said the restaurant is temporarily closed, but has not said when it will re-open. She did not immediately reply to an email Monday morning.
The delay in re-opening the Sun Dial, known for its spectacular views, won’t hurt the Sun Dial’s reputation as one of Atlanta’s finest eateries, according to a marketing expert.
“I think the typical consumer would assume that given they’ve been closed for a while, that the reason they’ve been closed is to ensure that when they do re-open, they’ve done everything possible to avoid this type of tragedy ever happening again,” Ken Bernhardt, regents professor of marketing emeritus at Georgia State University, said Monday.
