The announcement of plans for a new indoor waterpark and resort is making waves on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Great Wolf Lodge, which claims to have the largest number of indoor waterpark franchises in the country, broke ground at its newest location in Webster, Texas, on Thursday, according to KHOU 11.
Construction on the project could take as long as 24 months, with an expected facility opening in mid-to-late 2024.
Great Wolf Lodge has invested $200 million in the new Webster location, which will sit on 27 acres south of the NASA bypass and east of the Gulf Freeway, about 25 miles southeast of Houston. The company anticipates that the resort will bring 500 jobs to the area.
Webster’s coming resort will include 532 guest rooms where visitors can relax after spending the day enjoying the 95,000-square-foot indoor waterpark.
The waterpark franchise has locations in Southern California, Georgia, Maryland, West Virginia, and other states. Some resort locations offer restaurant dining, mini-golf, bowling, and other family-friendly activities.
This will be the company’s second franchise in Texas; the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine opened in 2007.
Grapevine’s Great Wolf Lodge has an estimated 80,000 square foot waterpark on the premises, making it slightly smaller than the new location. The Grapevine location includes a Starbucks, a Bear Paw Sweets and Eats dessert shop, and more than four restaurants, which offer delivery service directly to cabanas.
Other attractions at the Grapevine resort include a rope course where attendees can test their mettle on swinging ropes, an arcade, and a magic quest for kids, allowing them to use a wand to defeat a dragon in a fantasy-themed adventure.
Great Wolf Lodges feature an assortment of costumed characters, including the franchise’s mascots Wiley the Wolf, Violet the Wolf, and Oliver the Racoon, among others.
The resort was founded in 1997 by brothers Jack and Andrew Waterman, who owned Noah’s Ark Water Park in Wisconsin before they launched Great Wolf Lodge there.
Its original name was Black Wolf Lodge, but the name changed to Great Wolf Lodge after the resort was purchased by The Great Lakes Companies in 1999.
The company is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.
