A US$20m (€16m, £12.5m), four-year expansion of facilities at Zehnder's Splash Village Hotel & Waterpark in Frankenmuth, Michigan, has been completed with the site now boasting a 60ft (18m) raft ride and an array of new attractions.
The four-person raft ride is among the new additions, which also includes the installation of poolside cabanas complete with mini refrigerators, safes and flatscreen TVs. There will also be a 20-person spa pool and a slide that drops users 20ft (6m) through a chamber onto a water slide.
Around 30,000sq ft (2,787sq m) of space has been added to the now 50,000sq ft (4,645sq m) waterpark, which can hold around 750 people at a time and also includes a lazy river, 400-gallon dumping bucket, water geysers, a four-storey tube slide and a café.
The development has been part-financed through US$5m (€4m, £3.1m) in loan enhancement funds from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Loan Participation Program. A further US$862,000 (€693,000, £543,000) has been contributed by the Downtown Development Authority. The remainder of funding has been privately sourced.
"Zehnder's has been instrumental in contributing to the growth and success of Frankenmuth and is well known as one of the top family attractions in the state,” said Michigan State governor Rick Snyder.
“It is great news that this longstanding Michigan company has chosen to make new investments here, as tourism supports approximately 200,000 jobs in the state and the growth of companies like Zehnder's plays a key role in this."
