KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A massive development project in Kansas City, Kansas is about to get a huge infusion of cash and those who visit once it’s built will end up paying the tab.

It’s in the area of the old Schlitterbahn Water Park where the Unified Government is now building an entertainment district, they call Vacation Village.

Back in 2016, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, of Olathe, died on Verrukht, the tallest waterslide in the world and two years later the park was shut down for good.

Apartments are already in the process of being built but the centerpiece will be a $140 million Margaritaville Resort.

They are also building an indoor athletic facility, along with eight youth baseball fields.
That will be owned by Homefield, which already owns two massive training facilities in the metro, one in Kansas City off Bannister Road and the other in Olathe.

An indoor facility for basketball and volleyball games is also being built and in the next year, they will begin building a driving range experience called Big Shots Golf; an immersive art museum called Atlas 9 and an arena where they will host concerts and other events.

All of this is expected to cost around $344-million.

When Schlitterbahn was first built, developers used STAR Bonds to pay for it. How STAR Bonds work is you pay back the bonds with the sales taxes you collect. However, the water park closed before those bonds could be paid off.

Homefield is also using STAR Bonds to build the new Vacation Village, and they want to raise the sales tax higher to get these STAR bonds paid off faster.

This is just one of several development projects on the west side of KCK as they are also building the new American Royal arena further west of here.

Most everything is expected to be built and open within two years, so by the summer of 2025.