BonnerSprings.com

Kansas City, Kan. — The Board of Commissioners for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan. at its meeting Thursday night approved a preliminary plan for the Schlitterbahn Vacation Village at 94th Street and Interstate 435. The unanimous approval of the update on the 300-plus acre water park and resort by all seven of the commissioners present came after a presentation by Robert Campbell, vice president of the project's lead architecture firm, Berger Devine and Yaeger, and Katherine Fontenot, Schlitterbahn project manager.

The development will include a manmade river loop, a riverside walkway modeled on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, lined by retail stores, restaurants and bars, and three kinds of lodging, including a 440,000-square-foot, 10-story hotel with two towers, Campbell said.

The first phase of construction aimed for completion will be the water park and lodging cabins in May 2009, Fontenot said after the meeting. Channel digging for the planned river and construction of utilities, including roads, parking lots and buildings, is set to begin next month, pending approval of building permits by the board at its June 26 meeting. Grading work on the site is under way.

The changes from the previous plan consisted of relocations on the site of the water park, river system and lodgings, said UG spokesman Edwin Birch. The board's approval came with a stipulation that an access road to the park on its east side from 94th Street be closed except for emergency access, after three residents who live along that street told the board their concerns about Schlitterbahn customers adding to the traffic there. The entrances to the park will be on State Avenue and Parallel Road.

The whole project will be finished in phases, with a goal for completion in 2011, Campbell said.

See next Thursday's Chieftain for more details.

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