Even in January, with snow on the ground, the wave pool at the Sandusky Kalahari is packed. A similar but larger waterpark is planned for Celebrate Virginia in Fredericksburg.
ERIE COUNTY, Ohio--When Kalahari Resorts opened here in 2005, the indoor waterpark hotel wasn't exactly a new concept for this part of Ohio.
Two smaller indoor waterpark hotels--Great Wolf Lodge and Castaway Bay--already were up and running, and Cedar Point, the 140-year-old giant amusement park, was a long-established attraction.
In Sandusky and in its original location in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., Kalahari has entered an established tourism market with an existing waterpark or amusement park tradition and begun to compete.
In Fredericksburg, it will anchor a tourism complex that is being built from scratch, the details of which still haven't quite come into focus.
That makes it a different challenge for Kalahari President Todd Nelson.
He already thinks he'll need a much larger outdoor waterpark than the 77,000 square feet he's got in Sandusky. Plans in Fredericksburg call for a 170,000-square-foot outdoor park.
As Nelson is figuring out how to enter a market new to his waterpark hotel concept, Fredericksburg leaders are trying to gauge how this new attraction, unlike anything that exists in the area now, will affect roads, police and fire departments, water and sewer system and the rest of what a local government does.
"It's going to have an impact," Vice Mayor Kerry Devine said. "We want it to have a positive impact."
Erie County officials gave Fredericksburg folks lots of assurances this week that Kalahari isn't exaggerating when it says it's going to generate $5.9 million in new taxes for the city annually.
Over the past few days, the city leaders who went to Sandusky were trying to make sure those new revenues don't get eaten up by the costs of providing services to the development.
On Tuesday, they should be able to release the details of a letter of intent between the city and Kalahari, which city staff will be talking to council members individually about on Monday.
That should spell out not only what kinds of tax incentives the city will give Kalahari, but other agreements the two have reached about things like how much the waterpark resort will pay for water.
The council will hold a public hearing on that agreement Jan. 15, and could vote on it Jan. 22.
While city officials worry about the impact on city services, some in Fredericksburg's downtown wonder whether Kalahari will have any impact on them.
Its a good thing(posted by
WeileMom
, Jan. 8, 2008 7:07 pm)
We recently visited the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells and I honestly feel this will be a good thing for Fredericksburg. First of all most families will probably take a bus or shuttle from the Kalahari to Fredericksburg so that will limit the impact on traffic. Yes, its expensive to visit the water park but the fun part is staying there. We were able to use the water park for two days by staying one night- rooms get you in free and the room was $100. That's a good deal!
This will be a good thing.
The difference...(posted by
Blk97F150
, Jan. 6, 2008 8:24 pm)
The difference with the Superbowl and the Olympics is that they are ONE TIME events for that community. Imagine having to deal with a Superbowl next door to you on a daily basis. THAT is what people are wanting to avoid.
Nerver see a vision.....(posted by
griffitg
, Jan. 6, 2008 7:12 pm)
I'm always amazed at the post on this site when it comes to change. Most people seem to worry about all the stuff that could go wrong, and give little credit for anything going right.
This is no different that a city wanting the superbowl. They want it along with all the problems that come with hosting one (also Olympics) because it puts your city on the map.
What else is Fredericksburg know for?
Growth is not a bad thing. After all, do you think they build roads before or or after the traffic?
propaganda(posted by
riley6
, Jan. 6, 2008 3:10 pm)
Do you all remember how Silver sold us on Central Park. "A park like setting where families can leisurely walk from shop to restraraunt." Have you seen any families walking from shop to shop lately? The traffic around this waterpark is going to make our area worse. What local families are going to be able to afford $40 per person per day to play at the water park? Look at any tourist area and you can see the traffic impact, the litter, the crime rate increasing. These are the last things F'burg needs!
I hope I'm wrong...(posted by
Al
, Jan. 6, 2008 12:42 pm)
I really do. Water parks are fun. Getting tax revenue and some decent mid-high level jobs to the area would be fun too. My concern is that this just isn't viable. Just as Navyorchid says, my first impression of the previous article was that Sandusky is a very rural area and Fredericksburg no longer is. We have a whole slew of problems associated with poor urban planning already. They are not bringing a potentially massive attraction to rolling farmland here. I’m also not convinced that the jobs generated will be well paying. I’ve now heard several different accounts of how many will pay more than $8-10/hr. My suspicion is that very few will be offered to locals, with the majority of upper mgt positions going to existing employees of Kalahari. On top of that we have the water usage question. There are still too many issues that need to be addressed.
Star Directory
