If council approves, Massillon will get an aquarium/water park next year.

A multi-million dollar project. New jobs. More tax dollars for a cash-strapped city. A fun place to hang out with family and friends.



It’s a dream announcement for a city struggling to climb out of fiscal emergency — and it sounds almost too good to be true. Nevertheless, city officials announced Tuesday that a water park/aquarium will be built here, so long as City Council approves a lease agreement for city-owned property on which the facility would be constructed.



Developers of the water park and interactive aquarium — which doesn’t have a name yet — expect the facility to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from other states and maybe even other countries.



Hammond Aqualife LLC said it will bring the $42 to $52 million project to Massillon, and with it, at least 100 new jobs, as well as additional construction jobs.



Retail space for food and beverages, a hotel, a recording studio for a concert pianist, and both music and animal therapy programs are all part of the ambitious park plan, which would be constructed on 22 acres on the southwest side of The Legends of Massillon golf course at Nave Street.



City Council will hear first reading of an ordinance granting a $10 per year, 30-year lease for the project at a special meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday. Council members will have an opportunity to ask questions of the project partners at the meeting, as well as during other meetings next week.



“This is exciting news — this doesn’t happen every day,” said Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry during a news conference in her office Tuesday morning.



PROJECT DETAILS



Construction on the proposed 120,000-square-foot domed complex is slated to begin in the spring with the aquarium/water park opening in 2015, if council agrees to lease part of the golf course land. In exchange, Hammond Aqualife would forego any tax incentives.



Catazaro-Perry is optimistic about the construction of the facility and the benefits to the city. She said the city is not investing much in the project besides scaling back the golf course from 27 to 18 holes, so if the construction does not pan out within three years, then the contract would end.



She said partners in the project also looked at sites in Canton, Missouri and Indiana.



“This project will help make Massillon a destination location and is one more building block in our city’s economic resurgence,” Catazaro-Perry said.



Robb First, media relations for Hammond Aqualife, said he does not foresee any obstacles to beginning construction this spring.



The Legends of Massillon will remain a resort-style golf course.



“We are very much involved with the whole community area and that includes the golf course,” First said.



Ted Herncane, director of community development, said the golf course land is zoned residential, and he does not foresee any zoning changes. There’s nothing in the city’s code related to aquariums or water parks, he said.



“I think it’s a really good project,” Herncane said. “I think it’s a win for the entire city. It’s going to create jobs, it’s going to provide an avenue for tourism from all over the place into the area, and that benefits our local businesses.



“When this project grows there could be additional phases. Obviously, there’s going to be questions as we move forward here,” he said. “We want to assure the people there’s still going to be a golf course. There will be a little something for everyone down there now.”



UNIQUE FACILITY



Hammond officials said the combination of a water park and aquarium is the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, and joins about 50 similar facilities on four different continents.



“We plan to use as much local labor as possible,” said Rex Ferguson, a senior partner with Hammond.



Construction would be done using about 50 percent recycled materials, according to company officials.



Fidel Junco, founder of Hammond Aqualife LLC and a marine biologist who has consulted on other aquariums around the world for the past 22 years, said the aquarium will have sea lions, seals, crocodiles, otters, turtles, sharks, sting rays and hundreds of fish. He stressed that animals used in interaction and therapy programs with children and adults have either been rescued or were born in captivity. The focus of the aquarium is education, research and conservation, he said.



Junco and Ferguson have local ties as both are Walsh University graduates. Last month, news of the project was announced but a Stark County location had not been selected. Junco said both Jackson Township and Canton also were being considered for the water park/aquarium. He said Massillon took the proposal seriously.



“Our hats off to the mayor,” he said.



He declined to disclose the names of any investors or private donors, but he said some money is in place and discussions have been going on with investors for months. Now that a site has been chosen, the operation will move even faster, he said.



Numerous educational opportunities will be made available such as programs for special needs children.



Christopher Milo, a nationally-recognized concert pianist and motivational speaker, will be the director of community outreach programs and gifts. He will have a recording studio at the facility that will serve as a home base for his programs, which he usually presents at schools and hospitals.



Reach Christina at 330-775-1133

or christina.mccune@indeonline.com.

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