Great Wolf Lodge to join The Galleria at Pittsburg Mills

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10013/1027880-100.stm

 

The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills has received a letter of intent from an indoor waterpark developer.

 

Great Wolf Resorts Inc., of Madison, Wisc., officially confirmed this morning a much-anticipated deal that would bring an indoor waterpark resort adjacent to the 1.1 million-square-foot mall in Frazer. The resort will be developed by Zamias Services Inc., the Johnstown company that owns the mall.

 

According to this morning's statement, Great Wolf will receive license fees for use of the brand name and management fees to operate the resort. The resort will be owned by a joint venture, with the company receiving a small minority equity interest, something that Great Wolf has done in other locations as well.

 

"As part of the company's long-term strategy to pursue license-and-management transactions, we are very excited about the development of a new Great Wolf Lodge resort which will be connected to The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. The resort will provide the area's many residents a distinctive and memorable year-round vacation experience," said Kim Schaefer, chief executive officer, in a prepared statement.

 

The Wisconsin company has a number of locations, including sites in Sandusky, Ohio, and Niagara Falls, Ontario.

 

The company described its site as "family-oriented destination facilities that generally feature 300-600 rooms and a large indoor entertainment area measuring 40,000-100,000 square feet. The all-suite properties offer a variety of room styles, arcade/game rooms, fitness rooms, themed restaurants, spas, supervised children's activities and other amenities."

 

Talk of bringing an indoor waterpark to the Pittsburgh Mills mall was first reported last year. An attraction like a waterpark might help to bring traffic to the mall, making it a destination even for those beyond the immediate area.

 

The mall has struggled to fill its space since opening in 2005, in part because of ownership issues. The recession didn't help either, as malls around the country saw a number of retailers either pull back or go out of business.

 

The announcement did not say when the resort would open.

[KPfreak519]

OH MY GOD YES!!!!!! PITTSBURGH MILLS IS LIKE 10 MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!

[Airtime&Gravity]

Sounds interesting, and it should be great for the area. The idea of it being attached to the mall seems strange, but it has been done before, so the idea isn't that crazy. So is this just a water park, or will there be a hotel too?

[phantomfan93]

^Its also a hotel and I heard a crazy rumor that said you have to stay a night at the hotel to get in the waterpark.

[KPfreak519]

^Its also a hotel and I heard a crazy rumor that said you have to stay a night at the hotel to get in the waterpark.

 

If its really the people who run the Mills behind this like the article says, I dont think they'd be stupid enough to do that. The mall is failing right now enough as it is, there's only a couple stores that have lasted longer than a year and I doubt more than 3/4 of it's available store space is being leased; if it weren't for the movie theater I don't know if it would still be around at this point. This waterpark could bring in a TON of new business but if they are forcing customers to stay at the hotel to get in, ESPECIALLY when its connected to the mall, this will most likely result in yet another "Epic Fail" by the Mills...

[phantomfan93]

^I completely agree with all of that.

[spaceace12]

I don't think there is any current GWL that isn't where you don't have to stay at the hotel to use the water park. So unless they are building a stand alone water park, I don't see this being any different from other GWL. I went to the one in Cincinnatti and the room was nice (had the fireplace one) but my WP exp. at that one was askew since the coaster slide was down for Matience the week I went.

[FeelTheFORCE]

I'll probably never go there, but this is pretty cool! I'm all for more expansion near me to help out the surrounding economy and area!