Splash Valley water park construction to begin soon

Construction of the 14-acre water park Splash Valley has been slowed, but the project is moving forward, East Ridge Mayor Mike Steele said.

East Ridge City Council members were reassured Thursday night during their regularly scheduled meeting that delays were related to obtaining permits from various agencies concerning environmental impact had taken longer than expected.

“There is a process that obtaining one permit allows you to get the next, and the next and the next,” Mr. Steele said. “There were certain things we had to wait on before we could issue permits for construction to go forward.”

The mayor said building a theme park has been a new experience for the city, one that required engineering plans be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee Department of Conservation, the Hamilton County Water & Wastewater Treatment Authority — all before building permits could be issued.

Vice Mayor Jerry Petty said construction workers, rather than wait while Splash Valley obtained all its permits, had moved on to another job.

Building inspector Mark Dempsey said the owners are waiting for a construction crew to complete work on a water park in South Florida before beginning work at the East Ridge site, possibly within the next three weeks.

Pieces of the water park — prefabricated and shipped from Asia — include a wave pool, a surf pool, a 1,000-foot lazy river and an uphill water roller coaster. There will also be seven racing slides, raft rides and a variety of other amenities at the Ringgold Road attraction, officials said.

“The community will see some activity before then because they are going to start moving some of their heavy equipment here,” the mayor said. “I’m guessing it will be late July or early August before everything is finished.”

Project partners David Mays and Shawn Callahan had planned for a full summer season beginning in June but are now anxious to open this year, Mr. Steele said. The theme park might even be opened in stages, he said.

“People are ready to go swimming, they’re ready to go down slides,” the mayor said. “So am I.”