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Kalahari to be one of biggest employers in area; will be far bigger than any other area hotel. Date published: 11/17/2007
BY BILL FREEHLING Kalahari Resorts' new waterpark complex is expected to contribute $122.7 million annually to the Fredericksburg regional economy, company and city officials said at a ceremony yesterday. When complete, the $200 million resort will be one of the region's largest private employers. It will also nearly double the number of hotel rooms in the city of Fredericksburg. Kalahari President and owner Todd Nelson was in Fredericksburg yesterday to unveil plans for his company's third water-park resort and conference center. The complex is expected to open by December 2009 next to the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center in Celebrate Virginia South. The first phase of the project will include a 125,000-square-foot indoor water park, a 170,000-square-foot outdoor water park, a 100,000-square-foot conference center and about 710 guest rooms. The resort will also have a spa, bowling alley, mini-golf course, retail stores and restaurants. By comparison, the Wal-Mart store in Central Park, including the garden center, is 225,600 square feet. The outdoor water park will be bigger than three football fields. Nelson said yesterday that the first phase of the project will create at least 800 jobs. Kalahari plans to add 200 hotel rooms and as much as 100,000 square feet to the water park during the second phase of construction. The complex could ultimately support about 1,900 jobs, according to the company. That would make Kalahari Resorts one of the region's largest private employers. GEICO, Mary Washington Hospital/Medicorp, Wal-Mart and Food Lion were the only private employers generating 1,000 or more jobs in the region as of the end of 2006, according to data from the Virginia Employment Commission. Nelson said most of the jobs will be service-related and will pay in the range of $8-$9 per hour. But he said there will be between 80 and 90 salaried positions that could pay as much as $200,000 per year. Fredericksburg currently has 1,158 hotel rooms, according to city economic development staff. That includes the two new hotels that have opened in Celebrate Virginia; two more are on the way. The biggest hotel in the city--the Holiday Inn Select--has 193 rooms.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 11/17/2007
"Nelson said "Kalahari" is easy to pronounce
and seemed to fit for a water park." I guess
Mr. Nelson knows that the Kalahari is a
desert!
I'm finally glad to see a comment that makes sense here. I think the added park will draw lots of people to the area and provide a degree of benefit to many businesses in the area. When people visit, they ultimately EAT, Get Gas, Rent Rooms, Shop in Malls, Visit Downtowns (especially historic ones), and the list goes on......
I completely agree with the statement by realitystory.
Before the same old crowd starts crying about downtown,
ask yourselves this: if one million visitors go to Celebrate
VA to visit a water park, will all those people only play in the
water, or might a percentage of them decide to explore
downtown and spend money? The water park will be a
boon for downtown business as well as Silver. The traffic is
already everywhere, so we might as well generate some
revenue from it so citizens don't have to keep paying more
taxes.
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