Ground was broken Tuesday for the quarter of a billion-dollar Great Wolf Lodge off Interstate 95 near Perryville,
The property, which features more than 700 rooms and two million square feet. It is near the Hollywood Casino in western Cecil County about 22 miles west of Newark.
The resort will provide another boost to the Cecil County economy, which has seen a boom in distribution center jobs and is now poised to be major player in the state’s hospitality industry.
Great Wolf Lodge Maryland will become the brand’s 20th resort in North America, and the largest, with 700 suites and an expansive indoor water park.
Great Wolf Lodge Maryland is scheduled to open middle-to-late 2023.
“As we look to expand the Great Wolf Lodge experience to new markets, we are excited to place our newest resort in Perryville, MD, and provide Mid-Atlantic families with an easy, carefree escape where kids and parents will laugh, play, and have joy-filled adventures together,” said Murray Hennessy, CEO for Great Wolf Resorts.
Hennessy continued, “Being a short driving distance from several key markets makes Perryville an ideal location for a Great Wolf Lodge. With the tremendous support from the state, county, and town, as well as our shareholders Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners, we’re excited to make this resort a reality. We’re eager to be a part of this community and to help contribute to its continued growth and prosperity.”
The resort received incentives from state and local governments.
Great Wolf Lodge and its construction partner estimate more than 2,000 jobs will become available as a result of the two-year timeframe required to build the more than $250 million resort.
When the resort opens, Great Wolf Lodge Maryland will create more than 850 new jobs in Cecil County, ranging from engineering and IT professionals to lifeguards and housekeepers.
“Maryland was recently rated as the nation’s most improved state for business, and the addition of Great Wolf Lodge—the brand’s largest resort in North America—is yet another shining example that our state economy is coming back stronger and better than ever before,” said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. “This family-friendly destination will bring hundreds of new jobs and thousands of tourists to our state and is further proof that Maryland truly is open for business.”
The lodge will feature:
- A 126,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, heated to 84 degrees and featuring a variety of body slides, tube slides, raft rides, activity pools, and splash areas.
- .A 57,000-square-foot family entertainment center known as the Great Wolf Adventure Park will offer various attractions, including MagiQuest – Great Wolf Lodge’s live-action adventure game where players use interactive magic wands to battle goblins and dragons.
- Several dining options will appeal to a variety of culinary styles ranging from pizza and burgers to upscale dining at Barnwood and ice cream treats at Wood’s End Creamery.
- Family-friendly suites in various categories and styles, including Great Wolf-themed suites with separate sleeping quarters for kids designed as either a log cabin or wolf den and outfitted with bunk beds and Great Wolf character themes. The resort will also feature suites with multiple bedrooms for large families or multi-generational groups.
- The property will have 12,000 square feet of flexible conference space with breakout rooms, built-in A/V technology, customizable catering options, and a team of industry professionals to handle meeting needs.
- As part of Great Wolf Lodge’s environmental initiative, Project Green Wolf, the resort will offer preferred parking with charging stations for electric vehicles along with many energy and water conservations measures such as energy-saving LED lighting and special water filters to reduce consumption.
Construction partners include Stantec as the lead architect for the project, and Morris & Ritchie Associates, Maryland-based civil engineering firm.
The Baltimore-based division of Turner Construction Co. is managing the overall construction of the resort.
Neuman Pools, a family-owned, design/build company of large-scale water attractions, will oversee the construction for both the indoor water park and outdoor pool areas.
JP Morgan, a global leader in financial services, and VICI Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust, are the primary lenders for the development.
Great Wolf Resorts has locations in Wisconsin Dells, WI.; Sandusky, Ohio; Traverse City, MI.; Kansas City, KS. Williamsburg, VA; Pocono Mountains, PA.; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Mason, Ohio; Grapevine, TX; Grand Mound, WA., Fitchburg, MA., Charlotte, NC; Garden Grove, CA., Colorado Springs, CO., Bloomington, MN., LaGrange, GA., Gurnee, IL and Scottsdale, AZ The newest resort opened in Manteca, CA. in June.
