Dive brief:
- Kalahari Resorts and Conventions and general contractor Hensel Phelps began Oct. 20 at a new resort in Thornburg, Virginia, set to open in 2026.
- With 907 guest rooms and suites, the 1.38 million square foot facility will be the Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin-based company’s fifth indoor water park in the United States.
- Kevin Marshall, a member of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, said in the release that the Kalahari complex represents a $900 million investment that will create many construction jobs and spur economic growth in the region.
Diving knowledge:
The project will include a 175,000-square-foot indoor water park, 150,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, a wave pool, 10 acres of outdoor pools and a 90,000-square-foot outdoor amusement park.
Kalahari has existing resorts in Wisconsin Dells, Sandusky, Ohio; the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania; and Round Rock, Texas. The company expects the Spotsylvania County location to attract visitors from Washington, DC, Richmond, Virginia and Baltimore via I-95.
Across the country, another company recently announced that it will invest $2 billion in a theme park rivaling the size of Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park and Disneyland park.
American Heartland is set to open in 2026 in Vinita, Oklahoma. The 1,000-acre project by developer American Heartland, a subsidiary of Branson, Mo.-based Mansion Entertainment Group, will also have an indoor water park, in addition to a 300-room hotel, a 320-acre RV park and mountains Russians
