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Minneapolis developer Jeffrey Wirth won a race to build indoor water parks in the Twin Cities, and now he plans to spend $1 billion to build such parks and hotels across the country.
Indoor water parks, combined with hotels, have been a quickly growing phenomenon in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wirth is building two in the Twin Cities: Grand Rios in Brooklyn Park and Waterpark of America, a 403-room hotel and water park in Bloomington.
Now, Wirth has designs to build 10 indoor parks and hotels, and once again, he will face a challenger with a similar concept: Madison, Wis.-based The Great Lakes Cos. Inc.
Midwest origins
Since indoor water parks rose to prominence in this region, it's a trend a Midwesterner has a jump on. The Wisconsin Dells has 28 indoor water parks and Minnesota has 14, Wirth said. Yet, there aren't any hotel complexes with indoor water parks on the East or West coasts, he said.
Wirth thinks that presents him with an opportunity. His strategy is to build hotels with indoor water parks in vacation destinations located within a few hours from major metropolitan areas.
He's finalizing agreements for sites in Plymouth, Mass.; Westhampton, N.Y.; the Pocono...