The Mall of America wants to build an enormous water park costing more than $150 million.

According to a presentation to the Bloomington City Council on Tuesday, mall owner Triple 5 proposes to build the water park in a new addition to the east of the mall.

The water park would be one of the largest in North America at 250,000 square feet — almost four times as big a football field.

The new east addition would include at least one hotel, which would be built and financed separately.

“I want to stress that this is in the very early stages. Nothing is imminent,” said Bloomington Port Authority Administrator Schane Rudling.

At the soonest, he said, work on the project could begin “within a year.”

Triple 5 is asking Bloomington to finance the construction of the park. The city would own the project and would receive profits from its operation, said Rudling. Cities can borrow money more cheaply than private businesses, he said.

The Mall of America water park would be open to the public, unlike other nearby water parks that require users to be guests of a hotel.

The water park would attract users to the Mall of America’s hotels. “Much like the Kalahari resort in the Wisconsin Dells, the water park would fill hotel rooms when business travelers and event uses do not,” said a memo from the Port Authority to the council.

Triple 5 also owns the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada, which is smaller than the Mall of America.

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Q&A: What does banning TikTok and WeChat mean for users? The 215,000-square-foot water park in Edmonton features the world’s largest indoor wave pool and 21 slides and “play features,” according to the mall website. The park sponsors surfing leagues, which increases the use of the wave pool.

Triple 5 says the Edmonton water park attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually.

The company is also planning the biggest water park in North America, the 285,000-square-foot American Dream New Jersey in East Rutherford, N.J.

According to Triple 5, the cost of the Mall of America water park project — excluding the planned hotels — would be between $150 million and $200 million.

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