Construction may soon begin on Fort Lauderdale water park

Schlitterbahn wants to build $110M water park at site of former Fort Lauderdale Stadium

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A four-year-old plan to build a water park in a historical section of Fort Lauderdale may be coming to fruition.

Schlitterbahn, which has parks in Texas and Kansas, has wanted to build a $110 million water park at the site of former Fort Lauderdale Stadium. An artist's rendering of the project incorporates Lockhart Stadium in the design.

Mayor John "Jack" Seiler first floated the idea in 2009 as a way to create jobs and boost tourism.

"It's an exciting project and I think it has a tremendous amount of potential," he said.

But the Federal Aviation Administration held up the project since the site is next to Fort Lauderdale Executive.

"The FAA has had issues with any developments in and around the apron at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport going back years," said Seiler. "It's the reason the [New York] Yankees left many, many years ago, it's the reason the [Baltimore] Orioles left just a few years back, and I think it's the reason this got delayed."

City officials answered all of the FAA's concerns and expects federal administrators to approve the city's lease of the land to Schlitterbahn, said Seiler.

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South Florida last had a water park in 1992 when Six Flags Atlantis was open in Hollywood. It closed after being damaged by Hurricane Andrew.

Seiler said construction could begin by the end of the year if the deal is approved this month. The water park is expected to take two years to build.