Even though a deal hasn’t been secured, a Great Wolf Lodge still seems to be in the cards for Jackson and West Tennessee.
Jason Lasecki, director of media communications for Great Wolf Lodge, said in a statement to Corey Davis of the Memphis Business Journal, the company remains committed to bringing an indoor water park and resort to Jackson.
“We continually look for opportunities to bring the Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park resort experience to more families,” Lasecki said. “We remain interested in the West Tennessee region and continue to have healthy dialog with [Tennessee] Governor [Bill] Lee and his staff, along with leadership within the Jackson community, as we further evaluate the potential for a Great Lodge resort in this area.”
If the $150 million proposed project comes to fruition, Jackson officials have previously stated the 450-room Great Wolf Lodge would create 500 jobs — 250 full-time and 250 part-time positions. An additional 500 construction jobs would be filled over the course of the project.
Great Wolf Lodge is looking at a roughly 40-acre site at the Tiger Jones Technology Park off I-40’s exit 85 near the Ballpark at Jackson and West Tennessee Sportsplex.
Jackson Chamber president and CEO Kyle Spurgeon believes the development has the potential to attract 500,000 visitors to Jackson annually. Great Wolf Lodge seemed almost ready in February 2020 to announce Jackson as a new location, but COVID-19 altered that plan.
A $20 million state grant — previously allocated for an economic development project in Jackson — was pulled by Lee from his budget in mid-March due to the coronavirus.
Spurgeon said the state is still working with the chamber on an incentive package for the Chicago-based resort company.
“We have continued to work with Great Wolf Lodge and their site selection team all through the pandemic. … Everyone has stayed at the table to figure out how to make this project happen,” Spurgeon said. “I can tell you, we are very close. I am very optimistic that the first half of the year or second quarter, we will hopefully be close enough to provide further details.”
According to Lasecki, Great Wolf Lodge closed all 18 of its U.S. resorts, at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The company has reopened 15 of its 18 resorts, with those in California and Massachusetts still closed.
