In late September, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved funding for a major tourist attraction set to bring splishing and splashing to Vicksburg.

A proposed waterpark called the Blues Beach Family Waterpark estimated to cost almost $13 million, was approved Sept. 30 for $500,000 worth of state general obligation bonds for its construction.

The board approved a resolution asking the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration to declare a necessity to issue the state G.O. bonds for a tourism project. City Attorney Nancy Thomas said the money was authorized by the Mississippi Legislature in 2015 for the waterpark project.

The waterpark is projected to be located off South Frontage Road west of the Outlets at Vicksburg. A source familiar with the project said one of the local partners involved in the project owns a portion of the property.

Chuck Hendrix, owner of Texas-based Innovative Leisure Partners, the company building and managing the project, said the mall site was selected “because (the) visibility off I-20 is advertising you couldn’t pay for. That’s a long corridor there, and if you look, there’s not much from an entertainment standpoint from Dallas to Atlanta. It’s a great vantage part. We’ll go vertical with some things, and there will be at least one major slide tower that will have quite a bit of height to it, and being able to see that from I-20 will be very visually compelling.”

He said the park would feature water slides, a lazy river for floating, wave pool, splash, spray and play areas and green space. Hendrix said construction is expected to begin in early 2017 and the park is scheduled to open in spring 2018.

According to information from Innovative Leisure Partners presented to the board, the park is expected to create 12 full-time and 300 part-time jobs and earn more than $1.4 million a year, attracting 1.4 million visitors over 10 years with a projected total economic impact for the city of $1.195 billion by 2025, with a direct spending impact of $102.6 million over the same period.

“This will have a tremendous impact on tourism like never before,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “I want commend Rep. (Alex) Monsour and the (county) delegation for giving us this $500,000, and I think there’s going to be some additional money in the pipeline for this.

“I just can’t believe that this won’t be a tremendous asset to the city of Vicksburg as far as tourism and family development.”