LAGRANGE, Ga. -- A huge new indoor water park and hotel is planned for LaGrange.
The LaGrange Daily News reported on Tuesday that Great Wolf Lodge's website said that it will build a 93,000 square foot water park, conference center and 456 hotel rooms.
“I am extremely pleased that Great Wolf Lodge will open a water park resort in LaGrange,” LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton said in a statement. “Great Wolf’s investment in our city is very significant. This resort will create hundreds of jobs and attract nearly half a million visitors a year to LaGrange.”
City officials told the LaGrange Daily News that the project is expected to cost around $170 million and will attract about 500,000 visitors each year.
Photos | Great Wolf Lodge
Photos | Great Wolf Lodge
The resort will be built near Interstate 85's Whitesville Road exit. In addition to the water park, it will include a bowling alley, arcade, ropes course and a climbing wall.
An adjoining conference center will be financed using a $17 million bond and owned by the city of LaGrange, according to the newspaper. That bond will be repaid through hotel-motel taxes generated at Great Wolf.
The park is expected to open by 2018.
According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Peachtree City officials rejected a plan in 2015 that would have allowed Great Wolf Resorts to build a 38-acre water park there.
Great Wolf's website claims that the company is the "largest family of indoor water park resorts." They operate facilities in 14 locations, including Boston, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Charlotte.
