WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: The 135-acre Spotsylvania County project is planning to open in 2026.
A future convention you attend in Virginia may very well be located at a water park resort.
Kalahari Resorts and Conventions recently broke ground on a $900 million water park resort in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. A 2026 opening date is anticipated.
The plans call for a 175,000-square-foot indoor water park, plus 10 acres of seasonal outdoor pools. But the venue will also have 150,000 square feet of meeting and event space and 907 guest rooms and suites. Admission to the water park will be included for all registered overnight guests.
Take a peek at renderings of the planned resort in the gallery below.
Other features of the resort will include a 90,000-square-foot Tom Foolerys Adventure Park and 12 on-site food and beverage outlets, including buffet and quick-serve options and four signature dining experiences.
The 135-acre Spotsylvania County location is in Thornburg, just off the Mudd Tavern Road exit of Interstate 95. It’s about 60 miles from downtown D.C. and 13 miles south of Fredericksburg. The Kalahari resort will be about 22 miles closer to Greater Washington than Kings Dominion amusement park. It’s also closer to the D.C. area than Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park locations in Williamsburg, Virginia, and Perryville, Maryland.
“This is the most perfect site you could ever imagine,” Todd Nelson, founder and owner of Wisconsin-based Kalahari, said at the resort’s groundbreaking last month, according to The (Fredericksburg) Free Lance-Star. “I tell people on a one to 10 scale, it’s a 14. It is just a fabulous location.”
According to that report, Kalahari — whose resorts are African-themed — previously announced plans to build a similar resort in Fredericksburg in 2007, but the Great Recession scuttled those efforts.
