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A $350 million amusement park near the Lake of the Ozarks could be up and running within a year.
The Osage Beach City Council last week approved a redevelopment plan for the project along Highway 54 near the Grand Glaize Bridge. The plan locks in financing for an entertainment district called Lake Harbor Oasis.
Plans for the 25-acre lakefront estate include restaurants, a Ferris wheel, a water park with a retractable roof and a 400-room Marriott hotel.
Jeff Tegethoff, CEO of St. Louis-based Tegethoff Development, is one of the partners in the project, and the Lakes of the Ozarks need to do more for children and families.
“It’s no secret that the lake has had some amazing development over the past decade,” he said. “But it seems to be completely adult-centric, with these restaurants and these big swim-up bar pools and all that. It seems like the kiddie pool is always an afterthought.”
Rebuild allows the program to be funded through tax increase financing, which takes increased tax revenue generated by development and transfers those funds to projects.
The future site is on a property owned by businessman Fred Ross of motorboat supplier Big Thunder Marine. Ross, Tegethoff and another developer, SkyView Partners, have plans to open up the entertainment area.
SkyView managing partner Todd Schneider said the development “will provide year-round attractions and entertainment for everyone around the lake”. As Oasis grows into the Midwest’s premier tourist destination, the developer is “committed to keeping the Osage Beach community aware of the progress we’re making over the next year.”
Councilors’ committee approval of the rebuilding plan means demolition and construction can begin immediately. Builders hope the amusement park will open next summer, with the water park and hotel operational by 2026.
However, the development may face snags in the future — Tegethoff said about 1,000 owners of a timeshare property called Lakewood Resort, which is located on the site of the planned water park, have so far rejected offers to sell it in batches.
During a city council meeting about the plan last month, some board members and the public expressed concern about the future development and its impact on transit and the timeshare community.
The ordinance passed last week also designated the property – including the Lakewood Resort building – in a “dilapidated” state.
Nathan Rinne, a member of the Facebook group Citizens for a Better Camden County, expressed opposition to the ordinance.
“It’s the principle of the matter — these people didn’t ask to be destroyed,” said Rinne, who doesn’t live in Osage Beach but said he was “very politically active.”
“The ethical thing to do is to buy it before you destroy it,” he said. “If they did this to them, who’s to say they won’t do it again?”
Councilman Richard Ross said at a June 1 meeting that he had heard of several people who were happy to sell their timeshare properties.
“There’s some insinuation on things like social media that we’re becoming Big Brother and people are going to be kicked out,” he said. “To this day, no one in the timeshare community has objected to that.”
Paula Daube, of Plainview, Illinois, who owns a two-week stake in Lakewood Resorts, said she and other residents have not received much information from resort management about the future of the property. She became curious about the future of the property when she saw nearby trees being felled and covered.
“We don’t know if we’re going to be shut down and get out of here,” she said. “Money is only part of the [though]. It’s a nice place: small and cozy. Everyone is depressed and we all feel bad about it. “
The development has the support of officials across the state, including Lieutenant Gov. Mike Kehoe, who said last year that the development could bring hundreds of jobs to central Missouri.
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