Ask Mr. Sun:

Plans for a new water park in Las Vegas?

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Ask Mr. Sun

What’s going on with the land at Tropicana and Decatur? (3-3-2009)
Why is the road to Sloan Canyon not paved? (2-24-2009)
How does the Nevada Highway Patrol’s staffing compare with other states’? (2-20-2009)

Hey Mr. Sun,

Are there any plans for a new water park in Las Vegas?

•••

The closure of Wet ’n Wild, billed as an “aquatic Disneyland” when it opened in 1985, left a void in the lives of sunburn-seeking Las Vegans when it shut down in 2004.

It’s impossible to know all the ideas that lurk in the minds of Southern Nevada developers. But nothing on the scale of Wet ’n Wild will open before summer arrives.

In 2006, Disney and Universal Studios veterans announced plans for Las Vegas Wet, a resort featuring “the largest indoor water park in North America” and indoor ski slopes, to open on Las Vegas Boulevard south of Interstate 215 in 2008 or 2009.

Needless to say billion-dollar loans are tough to come by today and Las Vegas Wet is now projecting a 2012 opening.

Investors will undoubtedly scrutinize whether there’s enough tourist demand for wicked water slides to justify the plan. About 80 percent of Wet ’n Wild’s customers were locals.

Archon Corp., which owns the 27-acre parcel that was home to Wet ’n Wild, plans to build a resort-casino on that property eventually. The company found that it was more profitable to lease the land to a developer for construction equipment storage than it was to rent to a water park operator, according to a company executive.

Questions for Mr. Sun should be sent to page8@lasvegassun.com.

Discussion: 12 comments so far…

By MAGSNY1999

3/10/09 at 3:21 a.m.

Suggest removal

I am a local and if they just did it off the strip just outside of Vegas if WOULD BE Profitable. Locals in Las Vegas NEED things other than Casinos. and while we are on the subject the Locals need to support Mt. Charleston and Lake Mead so we can get better facilities at those locations. At the end of the day Las Vegas has recently in the last 10-20 years become a "city" with people that want to stay in Vegas but more Importantly the population has hit 2 million. Its ONLY a matter of time. and lastly speaking of things Vegas needs more use of renewable resources and other high tech jobs and other industries to broaden the tax base.
By gr8rubs

3/10/09 at 8:31 a.m.

Suggest removal

I agree with the previous comment. Because this city's developers tend to focus on tourist dollars Las Vegas feels like a wasteland for locals. Unless you avail yourself of the natural resources which necessarily take you OUT of the city. Vegas' economy is lopsided and should be more broad based to help the community remain viable.
By MrVincent

3/10/09 at 12:44 p.m.

Suggest removal

and i thought we had a water shortage.

Silly me!
By Rverp1

3/11/09 at 11:59 a.m.

Suggest removal

MrVincent this water is all recycled and in reality pools use very little water. Grass is the problem not pools..When I pulled my grass out I went from $200/month in the summer to $20 (STILL WITH MY POOL).
By neiman1

3/11/09 at 4:31 p.m.

Suggest removal

Why didn't harry get this an earmark or a stimulus. Nancy Pelosi got $30 million for her salt march mouse or rat for better habitat. I think harry should have asked her for a waterpark. Maybe she said NO.
By Babyboomer

3/11/09 at 4:39 p.m.

Suggest removal

On the next "downturn" will a water park support the local economy ? I doubt it....Think smart"er"...bring in businesses that can hold up the economy and not use the resources already strained
By stevem

3/11/09 at 5:03 p.m.

Suggest removal

they should bulldoze and level everything between lake mead and cheyenne and then from las vegas boulevard to nellis.

this is nothing but high crime, ghetto wasteland.
By bdover

3/11/09 at 9:51 p.m.

Suggest removal

Six Flags is going into BK all over the country-it's the first thing people cut back on in tough times. "Shut up, kids, go play in the backyard" is a common refrain today. And neiman1, you know down deep Harry is your love child....
By smoke14

5/6/09 at 11:05 a.m.

Suggest removal

how about having the 1000's of illegal mexicans who marched the other day for rights work for free to build this water park and pay back some of their debt to the state and the county
By Poki

5/12/09 at 11:57 p.m.

Suggest removal

yes they can hire us mexicans to build and then run the place since we re the only ones that aren't afraid of an honest days work around here cuz judging by the 11:00 am time the last guy posted his comment he's sitting at home collecting welfare and foodstamps and I wonder what debt is he talking about i don't think he's talking about white Americans making up almost 70% of the welfare recipients nation wide while all the other races combined only make up 30% except illegal mexicans which are not elligable to collect welfare and are forced to ( guess what) work for a living so can someone tell Cracksmoker14 next time he's riding the bus to the welfare office to pay attention to the help wanted sign at the Star nursery and then at the mexicans in the parking lot asking for work and then at the white guy at the stoplight asking for change and think maybe he owes the debt
By pairofshues

6/25/09 at 2:15 p.m.

Suggest removal

Poki
your comment was way out of line. Smoke was talking about the ILLEGALS....and the offence you took to it - must mean your an illegal too!

I agree with an earlier post to move the water park off the strip. We would definitely go to it everyday in the summer!
By MeanzMagnum

11/16/09 at 12:47 a.m.

Suggest removal

And, nice stats Poki, but make sure you read the whole sentence before you go copying and pasting a google search you found on percentages of whites receiving aide through welfare. Whites make up over 4x the population than blacks and mexicans. So, if your illegal ass learned anything in our schools, you should be able to figure that one out. And I'll tell you something else: Go to any shelter,food bank,or assistance programs in Las Vegas and you'll see your mexican "amigos" make up most of the percentage in line. Now how is that? If all of us white people just sit on our asses, collect welfare and foodstamps. Dont be mad even if, in some fantasy land, we did make up the population for receiving government/charity aide, when it is OUR tax dollars that pay for it. I hope, when you are reading this, you are sitting back in Chihuahua, Mexico working for your 54.80 pesos ($4.18) a day! Viva La Mexico, and the worthless, undereducated mexicans.