Developer Pitches Waterpark

Published By Mobile Press Register
Friday, September 15, 2006
By MIKE PERRY
Staff Reporter

DAPHNE -- The owner of Waterville, a 20-acre waterpark in Gulf Shores, is seeking a public-private partnership with Daphne to build an indoor waterpark at the city's proposed recreational complex.

Joe Warrington made his pitch Wednesday to the newly appointed Daphne Recreation Board. The board held the meeting to gather ideas for the recreational complex, which is being planned at a 123-acre site Daphne recently acquired for $1.9 million. The tract is behind Wal-Mart, east of U.S. 98.

Warrington said the indoor waterpark could feature slides, a surfing machine, a pool for water basketball and volleyball, a river ride and a wet deck. The all-indoor facility also could include a gymnasium/soccer field, Olympic-sized swimming pools and an ice skating rink, he said.

He presented multiple designs to the board, and said a first phase could include a 50,000-square-foot building to house the waterpark and a natatorium pools. The facility could cost between $8 million and $10 million, he said, and could be subsidized with user fees collected by the city.

"More and more municipalities are getting into the business of entertainment in an effort to offer kids more to do," Warrington said. "The waterpark is a nice cornerstone tenant, but it does not work at all without a lot of other things going there. I personally think that you could put enough things together at that complex to make the whole thing profitable."

Rapid growth along Interstate 10 and the Eastern Shore makes Daphne a perfect location for a waterpark, with a market extending to Pensacola, southeast Mississippi and Mobile and Baldwin counties, he said.

Warrington also is no stranger to waterpark development.

He has assisted in the development of a 50,000-square-foot indoor waterpark at Massanutten Resort in Harrisonburg, Va. He is currently assisting with the design of a multi-acre aquatic feature at The Wharf in Orange Beach for condominium and hotel residents, and also has played a part in the design of a waterpark in Williamsburg, Va., he said.

But the current trend in waterpark development is moving toward all-indoor facilities attached to hotels, he said, and it would help to have a hotel near the proposed project in Daphne.

"What hotels are starting to realize is that, instead of just having a pool, having more aquatic features drives occupancy," Warrington said. "That is the hottest thing going with hotels right now."

Public-private partnerships for such ventures are not uncommon either. Locally, the cities of Daphne, Orange Beach and Bay Minette have engaged in various, separate deals involving public financing of private enterprise projects.

Last month, city leaders in Mansfield, Texas -- a city of about 30,000 residents located 36 miles from Dallas -- heard a proposal for a $6 million to $7 million water amusement park that would include a 3,000-seat amphitheater and Texas' largest wave pool, according to reports.

Mansfield city leaders are considering sharing the cost with developers to build the park, dubbed Hawaiian Falls, the reports said. Voters in that city approved $5.1 million for an aquatic center to open in 2009, and the city has purchased a site for $1.3 million.

With his experience with waterparks, Warrington said his company could own and operate the facility for Daphne and collect user fees to pay off any investment the city makes in the project.

"I'd like to build and operate that waterpark space, and I think it would make sense for us to run that natatorium," he said. "I just want to get something there that the city would be proud of."

Recreation board member Eric Smith said the city needs a pool and having an indoor waterpark at the complex would draw more people and help make it a success.

"You can't just build a natatorium," Smith said. "You need a facility with multiple uses going on."

Warrington was not the only person at the meeting who suggested a multi-use recreational facility at the new complex.

Michele Heim told the board she has invested $30,000 in architectural plans for a facility that could house indoor volleyball, soccer, batting cages, a driving range for golfers, a kids' play area and an arcade. She said she planned to build the facility in another city before making the pitch to the Daphne board Wednesday.

"We're talking recreation for ages 3 to 83, all seasons, all year around," said Heim, a University of Mobile graduate with athletic and coaching experience.

Board Chairman Ed Nelson suggested Heim meet with the city's engineering firm, Hutchinson, Moore and Rauch, to share her ideas.

"We are going to tap people like you if we ever build that indoor facility," he said.

Several residents at the meeting supported the idea of a city pool. Others suggested the complex include soccer fields, a separate off-leash park for dogs and a shooting range.

Nelson said ideas for the complex are being gathered now to help city leaders decide which facilities it should contain.

Once that's decided, City Council members would consider payment options for building the complex and hire engineers to assist with the design, Councilman Gus Palumbo said. A timeline for the project has not been established.