Serengeti Springs construction continues in Hattiesburg

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - A construction site in Hattiesburg is about to turn into something for all Mississippi residents to enjoy.

The new water park in the Hub City may not be open for business, but officials are already planning.

“It’s hot here in Mississippi,” said Rick Taylor, executive director for the Hattiesburg Convention Commission. “It may not be here today, but it’s hot most of the time, and what a great amenity to put in for the residents of Hattiesburg as well as our guests from the outside.”

As exciting as this new feature will be in Hattiesburg, it could lead to some traffic issues in the future as the park opens. Luckily, there is already a plan in place.

“Obviously, parking is going to be a critical factor,” Taylor said. “We’re going to redesign the existing parking lot. We’re going to be able to pull a little over 200 parking spaces out of that.

We’re going to do some redesign of the park avenue bridge into the zoo and to the back.”

As the park construction comes to a close in the following months, it also allows residents of other cities an opportunity to visit the Hattiesburg Zoo.

“It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to do both the zoo and the water park on a single day, so that’s going to cause people that come in from outside to spend the night, and, of course, when they spend the night, they stay at hotels, they shop, they eat and that sort of thing,” Taylor said. “So, we see it as being very positive from an economic standpoint but also a quality of life.”

The exact opening date for the park has yet to be determined.

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