The park is projected to have 500,000 visitors in its first full season with 450 full- and part-time employees.
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dolly Parton plans a water-snow park in Nashville, described as the first of its kind in the country, to join her other tourist attractions in East Tennessee.
The new $50 million venture, announced Thursday on Parton’s 66th birthday, is a 114-acre park projected to open as early as summer 2014. It is not yet named.
It will join her Dollywood theme park and a water park in Pigeon Forge, about 190 miles away in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee.
“I’m not a bit afraid of competing with myself,” she said. “They are far enough apart. I live in Nashville, so it’s natural for me to have two working places.”
The planned venture will be a partnership with Gaylord Entertainment, which owns the sprawling Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and the Grand Ole Opry country music show in Nashville.
The park is projected to have 500,000 visitors in its first full season with 450 full- and part-time employees.