Robert E Lee Log Flume...

[Busterbuttonboy]

Well ok, so i made you look. While there is no direct impact upon the the fields around us, it is going to make a pretty big impact in general. For those of you who travel to the area you may be interested in hearing what Fredericksburg has been cooking up lately. Its not to far off the Lee Log Flume.

A 125,000-square-foot indoor water park,
a 170,000-square-foot outdoor water park,
100,000 square feet of conference space,
710 hotel rooms and condominiums,
a 70,000-square-foot lobby, to include up to 10 retail stores, 3 restaurants, candy and coffee shops and other amenities,
a family fun center, which would include bowling, indoor mini-golf, a ferris wheel and other activities
a 20,000-square-foot spa.
A proposed second phase would include another 200 hotel rooms and another 75,000 to 100,000 square feet of indoor water-park space.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/112007/11172007/334327

I was one of three people at the hearing last night who spoke against it. Over 30 people spoke. Debates raging over jobs, tourism, water usage, the river impact, traffic, etc.
Most Respectfully
Drew Gruber

[riverratmess]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

This kind of stuff just never seems to stop. Does it?

[Drygoods]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

A water park in Fredricksburg? Duh, isn't that what Florida is for?



Ok, you Floridians, don't get your knickers in a knot, I was only joshing, but I am really sorry to hear about the water park project.:(

[stx]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

I for one am glad I will be able to combine my passion for history with overpriced superficial fun. They should have this at every battlefield.

[Canebrake Rifle Guards]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

Bread & Circuses simple and plain.

If you're not sure of its meaning go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

Aimless development like this has become the rhyme & reason for America. And it will only get worse.

Greg Starbuck

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

Well ok, so i made you look. While there is no direct impact upon the the fields around us, it is going to make a pretty big impact in general. For those of you who travel to the area you may be interested in hearing what Fredericksburg has been cooking up lately. Its not to far off the Lee Log Flume.

A 125,000-square-foot indoor water park,
a 170,000-square-foot outdoor water park,
100,000 square feet of conference space,
710 hotel rooms and condominiums,
a 70,000-square-foot lobby, to include up to 10 retail stores, 3 restaurants, candy and coffee shops and other amenities,
a family fun center, which would include bowling, indoor mini-golf, a ferris wheel and other activities
a 20,000-square-foot spa.
A proposed second phase would include another 200 hotel rooms and another 75,000 to 100,000 square feet of indoor water-park space.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/112007/11172007/334327

I was one of three people at the hearing last night who spoke against it. Over 30 people spoke. Debates raging over jobs, tourism, water usage, the river impact, traffic, etc.
Most Respectfully
Drew Gruber

Amazing...isn't it ironic that in the mid-90's Disney's proposal for "Disney America" almost unanimously was shot down...and now the same community is willing to settle for a 2nd rate amusement park...What's changed?

Paul B.

[BishopLynch]

If a man does away with his traditional ways of living and throws away his good customs, he had better first make certain that he has something of value to replace them. —Robert C. Ruark

"Value" to the modern capitalist American has only one meaning, the almighty dollar.

It always amazes me to hear people today say we are making progress, or we are progressing as Americans. To that I reply, "Progressing towards what?" In order to progress one must have a goal which he desires to progress towards. We never hear what we are progressing towards, just that we are making progress. Here in the West we have regressed so badly that now more and more profit is the goal and anything which does not turn a large enough profit has no value. Men will sell out 100s and 1000's of years a nation's traditions, customs, and history just to make a few bucks. Does it surprise you?

I hate to say it, but, to echo Mr. Starbuck, it will only get worse, so buckle your seat belts.

[ContinentalMorganGuard]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

This sounds like the same plan that came up in Gettysburg. Is this the same group and have moved on or just happans to be people with the same plan, maybe Stx is right all battlefileds should have one.

[dusty27]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

Nelson said his resort will work with the Expo Center to draw convention business. He also said the park's African theme will "fit in perfectly here with the National Slavery Museum basically being located right next to us."

This quote is brutal. This guy heads a corporation? Has he looked into the Slavery Museum lately?

What makes him think folks that visit the Museum would want the water park experience?

And at $200 per night?

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

And knowing how people's geography skills are I would like to point out that the Kalahari is a SEMI-DESERT covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa.

I don't find this whole thing, amusing. The regions that the true Kalahari covers have some serious issues that do not include a little playland in America.

[Rob Walker]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

Is it me or are these issues coming at us two fold within the past year. I feel like I took crazy pills. Is everyone going mad? What is with the rush to dismantle or Nation's history. Sure, I know, the almighty dollar, but what makes them think now is the right time to assault historical areas in every region. :baring_te This is really starting to tick me off. Thanks for letting me vent a little.

[Dignann]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

As distasteful as the concept may sound, this type of project was pretty much a foregone conclusion when the Celebrate Virginia property was rezoned years ago. There are a few pockets of 2nd Fredericksburg battlefield in the vicinity, but local preservationists have paid little to no attention to its resources in the past and subsequently wrote off that battlefield years ago. Nearby Civil War sites also include some fantastic CS earthworks from the 1862-1863 winter Rappahannock River defenses, as well as the southern approaches to Banks's Ford. These sites, however, are already under easement and protected. An intact Alabama camp also remains, but on the property owned by the slavery museum (ironic?). The fate of the slavery museum remains to be seen, but all indications are that the fundraising efforts are seriously struggling.

The Celebrate Virginia property on the south side of the river is hemmed in by I-95 to the east, the river to the north and west, and a massive already built commercial area (named Central Park) to the south. There is little chance that this water park will result in any further commercial sprawl. The impact that this venture will have on the local battlefields will more than likely be negligible. Increased traffic will surely occur, but anyone who has driven around Fredericksburg in the last few years knows that it's already intense and would likely get worse anyway.

Eric

[Canebrake Rifle Guards]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

The situation reminds me of a song lyric,

"We used to dream about heroes but now its just how to beat the system. So where to we go to dream now? Up on the roof of the projects, straining through the city lights to see if they've built golden arches on the moon yet?"

It is important that everyone on this board, in some way, in their own way, is keeping alive the memory of the heroes of 1861-1865.

Greg Starbuck

PS There's a great (and hilarious) scene in the movie "Idiocracy" (in the deleted scenes). In the future museums had devolved to... well, I don't want to give it away.

[Dignann]

Re: Robert E Lee Log Flume...

Kalahari hits bump

Kalahari Resorts is looking at alternative financing methods, still committed to Fredericksburg park

BY BILL FREEHLING

The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, Va.]
December 30, 2008

Housing prices must stop falling before Kalahari Resorts can get a financing package in place and start work on its planned Fredericksburg water park resort and hotel.

The Wisconsin-based Kalahari is proceeding with plans for a 700-room hotel and 200,000-square-foot indoor water park on 49 acres of Celebrate Virginia South, company President Todd Nelson said yesterday.

The financing problems will push back the start of construction, however, and could delay the planned 2010 opening, he said.

The estimated price tag for the project is $250 million, although Nelson said recent declines in oil and other commodities could lower that figure. Kalahari plans to put up $20 million itself and has been working to raise the other $230 million.

Nelson said he's "feeling real confident" about the financing coming through, and he's seeing banks loosen up a bit with lending. But his lenders have told him that housing prices must stabilize before he can get the loan.

He hopes that will happen by April, and that he can start construction by the end of the upcoming summer.

"We have never been more committed to a project," Nelson said.

The company's initial plan was to raise about $80 million by selling 150 condo units at the Fredericksburg park, and borrowing the remaining $150 million from Wisconsin community banks. That's the model it used to build the two parks in Wisconsin and Ohio.

But the economic downturn has forced Nelson to come up with a Plan B. Kalahari no longer intends to sell condo units, as that market has weakened significantly. The company is working with a couple of large financial institutions--which Nelson declined to name--to raise that equity portion of the funds.

Nelson said he plans to still work with the Wisconsin banks to finance the remaining part, but that a larger financial institution will take the lead.

The ongoing credit crunch has pushed back the project's timetable. In October, Nelson said he hoped to break ground by April 2009. He said the delays are allowing the company more time to design a better product.

But the delays are also increasing the chance that Kalahari might not open by the end of 2010, which is what it agreed to do as part of the performance agreement signed with Fredericksburg earlier this year.

The City Council approved an incentives package that includes a 47.5 percent rebate on all the park's local taxes for 20 years and more than $3 million in up-front fee waivers. The agreement includes a clause that allows Kalahari to push back the opening date in the event of an emergency situation.

Nelson said he would ask the city to change the deadline if that becomes necessary, and he said the global financial crisis meets the criteria of an emergency. But he hasn't given up on the possibility of opening by the end of 2010. He said the Fredericksburg park is the company's top priority in 2009.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/122008/12302008/435419

Eric