Whitewater Adventure Park Plans in Loveland Go Down the Drain
Things were looking fairly good for the whitewater adventure park and resort, slated for the east side of town near the interstate, until the Arizona developer got into trouble.
They've been working to get this park off the ground since 2015; after six years, the plan is still so far away from becoming a reality, that the city has told the state that they'll not be petitioning to get the funding to build it.
Fort Collins has the Poudre River Whitewater Park and Windsor has their own Eastman Park River Experience; it would have been kind of neat for Loveland to have its own iteration of those, but it looks like that dream is over.
According to a press release, the city had had three new developers submit plans for the park after Loveland parted ways with the Arizona developer that they had on board got into legal trouble and stepped away from the project.
One of these three was selected as the finalist for the project, but it turns out that the developer could not promise things requested by the state would be in place by the completion of phase one, so they ended up having to withdraw their plans.
So, the City told the State Regional Tourism Authority that Loveland [wouldn't be needing] the funds that the city was set to receive, which was about $100 million, or half, of the estimated cost of the park/resort.
A lot of folks in Loveland have wondered whether the park/resort is even worth it, including the worry that we shouldn't be wasting any water on such a project.
If anything, Loveland still has the 'blueprint' for the Loveland Whitewater Adventure Park & Resort; if they can find the right developer and funding, they can pick up where they left off.