Sevierville's Wilderness resort announces major expansion

10/14/2011

Officials with the Wilderness at the Smokies resort announced that they are embarking on a multi-million-dollar expansion that is expected to add as many as 50 jobs.

The resort along Highway 66 already features an indoor water park, but the new attraction will go in a different direction — the Adventure Forest "dry park" will feature entertainment including a ropes course, laser tag, bowling and black-light mini-golf.

Spokesman Rick Laney said the resort had a "banner year" in 2011 and that the expansion will double the size of the indoor water park, from seven acres to 14 acres. The Adventure Forest attraction is expected to open next spring.

Laney said the expansion represents an investment of several million dollars, although he declined to give a specific dollar figure. However, he said the investment will make Wilderness at the Smokies the second-largest tourist investor in Sevier County behind Dollywood.

Laney said Sevier County's tourism cycle is heavy on the summer, but indicated that Wilderness has helped to attract both tourists and special events — such as conferences — at other times.

"We have now given people something that they can do and a reason to come here in the winter months," he said.

The $100 million resort opened in 2008, and includes nearly 1,000 rooms, two outdoor water parks, an indoor water park, a 36-hole golf course and a $1.5 million, five-story water slide. The property is owned by Patrick Helland, Pete Helland, Jr., Tim Lucke and Tom Lucke, who own a similar resort in Wisconsin called Wilderness at the Dells.

The resort isn't the only local attraction that's expanding, though. Last month, Dollywood officials announced plans for a new steel-wing roller coaster called Wild Eagle. The $20 million coaster, which will reach speeds of 61 miles per hour, is expected to be finished in March.

And in August, a $10 million dinner show called the Lumberjack Feud opened at a site on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge.

Source: Knox News Sentinel