The maker of the world’s biggest water slide is within three years of making quite a splash here in South Florida.
Schlitterbahn, which is German for “slippery road,” received a passing vote from the City of Fort Lauderdale for a lease for a new water park in the city.
"We approved the lease today, so now they're doing their due diligence,” said Fort Lauderdale Vice-Mayor Romney Rogers. “We have to rezone it. They'll have to come up with building plans, and certainly get permitted, and then, we'll move forward."
The proposed site belongs to the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. That means the federal government will also have to approve any lease for the use of its land. Schlitterbahn is eyeing 60 acres, which includes the old Fort Lauderdale Stadium and Lockhart Stadium where the Strikers Soccer club now plays.
The company’s first $50 million phase in which developers want to build tree-house suites overlooking a network of rapids, streams, and water trails. The renderings also call for building soccer fields for public use.
Fathers Joey Vega and Fred Phillips both said they’d love to have a water park closer to home and no fees for innertubes, life jackets, or parking. They both said they’d enjoy saving a trip to West Palm Beach to Rapids Water Park.
And by the way, "Schlitterbahn" Fort Lauderdale as currently designed would be larger than Rapids Water Park. The company has sites in Texas and Kansas City, the latter of which is scheduled to open the world’s tallest water slide in the next few days.
