Reports that a water park may locate in Fort Oglethorpe on Mack Smith Road are premature at best, according to the developer and government officials.
“I’m not going to say anything about where the site is until after we have one more test done to make sure we don’t have to look anywhere else,” said David Mayes, one of the developers of the Splash Valley water park.
East Ridge Mayor Mike Steele has said the city and county were offering tax breaks to get the park in Hamilton County just off Interstate 75, but no such discussions have taken place in Catoosa County yet, officials say.
That leads Fort Oglethorpe’s mayor to believe that if the park is coming, the talks are very preliminary.
“About six months ago, the prospective partners were looking at two locations, but they haven’t determined anything, and they haven’t contacted me again,” Mayor Ronnie Cobb said. “My best guess is that nothing is happening right now.”
The Mack Smith Road site is just outside Fort Oglethorpe’s city limits and would need significant sewage improvements to accommodate the park. Mr. Cobb said the city hasn’t been approached again about helping with that process, either.
Catoosa County officials say they’ve only heard rumors about the park coming.
Bob Peck, chairman of the Catoosa County Development Authority, said the county would be happy to talk with the developers, but so far that has not happened.
“I have no firsthand knowledge of whether the park is coming here,” said Mr. Peck, who is also president and CEO of Gateway Bank and Trust. “They have had no discussions with the development authority.”
But that doesn’t mean the city or the county is opposed to the idea. Mr. Cobb said he’d welcome Mr. Mayes and his partners, and he’d encourage the same sort of tax breaks offered by East Ridge.
Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce President Martha Eaker said she’d “love to have” the water park.
“It would be wonderful with the Holiday Travel Park and Lake Winnepesaukah so close by; that little triangle there would make a great vacation,” Ms. Eaker said.
But Mr. Mayes remains mostly silent about any plans.
“We don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up,” he said.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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