Abandoned hotel development in Colorado to become US$90m waterpark resort
Wisconsin-based operator Great Wolf Resorts is planning to spend US$90m (€82m, £57.6m) on transforming a partially-finished Renaissance Hotel into a family resort centred around a waterpark, expanding on its chain of 13 resorts across North America.
Pencilled for an opening date of Q3 2016, Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs will include 311 bedrooms, a waterpark, five restaurants, children’s entertainment areas and 20,000sq ft (1,858sq m) of meeting space.
Work is set to start on the development within a month after Great Wolf Resorts purchased the unfinished Renaissance on 22 July. The project has been idle since 2009, when the original developer ran out of finances for construction.
The 65,000sq ft (6,000sq m) indoor waterpark will be the largest in Colorado. Also included in the development will be an arcade, miniature golf, mini-bowling, a high ropes attraction, a spa and amenities for children.
Once open, the resort will employ 500 staff. Rooms will start at about US$250 (€228, £160) a night, which includes admission to the water park for two days. The former Renaissance is roughly half complete, with the US$90m figure covering the completion of the hotel, construction of the waterpark and amenities, and the US$18m (€16.4m, £11.5m) used to purchase the property.
Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs will be part of a wider retail complex home to cinemas, restaurants, an entertainment centre and shops.
Canada's largest waterpark handed record fine after multiple safety violations
Bankrupt Atlantic City casino to be transformed into waterpark and hotel
WTI and Faulkner Browns to design £36.7m waterpark development in Coventry
China's largest waterpark opens in Henan
Great Wolf Lodge adds new children's spa to Ohio waterpark
Ninth Great Wolf Lodge to open in 2007
SCS water play fort for Niagara Falls resort


Construction work to begin on Universal Resort Beijing's second phase 'by 2025'

Sparcstudio gives Center Parcs' Aqua Sana concept an extensive forest-inspired makeover

Studio Apostoli plans wellness oasis in Mongolian national park

Soho House to expand with new properties in UK, North America and Latin America

Art Processors win Fast Co Design Award for Sydney Opera House 50th anniversary synchronised show

September reopening for Britain's oldest lido following £9m transformation

Rixos to open Turkish-inspired beachfront spa resort in Dubai Islands

Rosewood’s second Austrian Asaya spa to open in restored 15th-century castle

1 Hotel Mayfair launches with Bamford Wellness Spa and biophilic design by GA Group

Otherworld Philadelphia is a place where 'anything is possible'

Mandarin Oriental opens first retreat in Greece and announces upcoming Sardinian property and spa

Third Space joins Six Senses at luxury development The Whiteley

GymNation – owned by JD Gyms – opens latest club in Dubai and plans Middle East expansion

Entertainment resort and waterpark planned for Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Plans revealed for US$2bn Oklahoma theme park

Nike gets into the health club market with the launch of group exercise studios

Canyon Ranch receives additional US$150m investment from VICI Properties to fund expansion

Communal bathhouses and self-care inspire LA's upcoming wellness club, Hume

Foster + Partners slated to design Equinox Resort Amaala

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios' Eden Project Dundee will celebrate myth-makers and alchemists

Noa* creates elemental spa for alpine eco-resort in Austria

Meow Wolf opens The Real Unreal psychedelic experience in Grapvine, Texas

Boutique Greek island retreat unveils new spa with waterfall treatment rooms

PLP Architecture's Mandarin Oriental Bankside will be part of UK's first operationally fossil fuel-free mixed-use development

Fletcher Priest creates new design for Therme Manchester

Buro Happold hosts active transport event at World Congress of Architecture in Copenhagen

Aardman Animation and design studio, Katapult, launch new attraction concept

Anotherform and Fluxprojects create immersive fitness concept for Blok in London

FaulknerBrowns delivers new Lee Valley Ice Centre with two Olympic rinks

Property developer, Arada, announces third mega Wellfit health club in UAE
Bionic leaves, breathable metals and selfgrowing bricks... Biomimicry in architecture has come a long way. Christopher DeWolf takes a look at the latest advances