It’s being billed as one of the largest family entertainment venues in the region and it will happen in Tunica.
Harrah’s Tunica Resort and Summit Smith Development announced last week their plans to construct a 20-acre waterpark, 18-hole golf course and renovate the former Harrah’s Tunica Resort.
Developers said they plan to put $140 million into the development which will include two hotel towers, convention center and a wide variety of amenities aimed at pulling families and vacationers to Northwest Mississippi’s gambling mecca.
A similar development with convention center, motel, retail shopping, waterpark, sports complex and grocery store was announced in Clarksdale more than two years ago, but has failed to materialize. Promises of that development carried a $39 million price tag.
The development in Tunica will include a 100-acre private lake, a family fun center with an all-ages video arcade, a sporting clay and hunting center, an RV park and a boardwalk with upscale dining, fashion retail and live entertainment venues.
Tunica is located about 50 miles south of Memphis and hopes to draw both gamblers and vacationers from across the Southeast.
This project is looking to attract more families with the additions of the water park, a youth sports complex, lake activities including fishing and boating, and a boardwalk.
The property has been vacant since Harrah’s closed its doors in 2014.
Developers have said more details will be announced this spring and actual work on the project starting in 2022.
The construction will include two separate hotel towers with approximately 1,168 guest rooms a 50,000-square-foot convention center, an 18,000-square-foot spa and salon. The property will also feature a sporting clays and hunting center on 750 acres or river bottom and 200 RV spaces.
Plans are to complete the water park next summer. It will include a lazy river, drop capsule slides, a raft bowl slide, kids slides, two swim-up bars, and other play areas.
The resort, which will employ more than 650 people, will be managed by Aimbridge Hospitality
It would be the first major water park in the area since Wild Water and Wheels closed in Memphis more than 20 years ago. It would also be one of the largest family entertainment venues since Libertyland closed in 2005.
In recent years, a number of casinos in Tunica shut down, leaving many without jobs. COVID also hit the entertainment industry in Tunica hard, but the resorts and casinos have seen a resurgence in patrons this spring.
