New water park and resort planned for Galveston By The Associated Press (8/29/03 - GALVESTON) — New Braunfels-based Schlitterbahn has announced plans to build a $28 million water park resort in Galveston. The company plans to build the facility on 25 acres adjacent to Moody Gardens and the Lone Star Flight Museum. The site is on city-owned property that was once part of Scholes International Airport. Jeff Henry yesterday updated the Galveston City Council. Henry is general manager of Schlitterbahn Beach on South Padre Island. His family opened the original Schlitterbahn on the Comal River in New Braunfels in 1979. The city council approved a long-term lease for the property where the resort will be built. Henry says funding is in the process of being firmed up. Ahhhhhhhhh Helllllllll Yeahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! Galveston is going to off the hook now!
That's great! Now we'll have something else to do with our kids that's fun for us when we're visiting everyone in H-town. Nothing will ever beat the original, but it's getting more and more crowded to visit here from Austin, and having one in Galveston will take some of the load off. Terrific for Galveston, too!
Considering I live half an hour away from the original Schlitterbahn, I don't think I would go to the one in Galveston.... But then again, the new one would be an hour from my parents house.... So maybe I might be tempted to go.... But either way, Schlitterbahn rocks. Woo hoo!
Why can't they just clean up the nasty beaches??? I haven't been to G-town in 4 or 5 years. Last time I was there it was boring, aging, and trashy. Why don't they just clean it up, put a nice trolley system down there, get minor league team(s), and/or a casino. What's changed in the years I've been absent?
I know people that went to the one in Padre this summer, and they said it was somewhat lacking. 25 acres is the size of the one in Padre too, and they told me it was slightly bigger than the size of Adventure Bay on Beechnut.
Adventure Bay isn't even half an acre, that plot of land could have just as easily been used as a shopping center.
I'll stick with the original thank you very much. I'd rather make a 2-3 hour drive for a 2 day vacation to the best waterpark in Texas than go to a lesser version of it close to home. My family has made an annual vacation in july to Schlitterbahn since I was about 10 years old. And I'm 20 now. It's still a great place to go, especially with family friends.
I agree about the beaches, although they've finally started doing a little about improving them, but Galveston has really developed a nice arts and antiques scene. There are several galleries a few blocks towards Broadway in the direction from the Strand and a few excellent restaurants. My wife and I love to stay at the Tremont and go to the galleries and shops between meals of the fabulous seafood you can't get here in Austin. I've been going to Galveston since I was a kid and back then there were BEACHES! One trend I don't like, however, is the concentration of the eateries and other entertainment in the hands of a couple of bigwigs. Kemah is an example. I prefered the old chaotic and dirty version. And I think Moody Gardens is more than a bit "plastic". I'm glad there is another player like Schitterbahn coming to the area.
You want info, I'm your man! Well for starters, Tillman Fertita has turned Seawall Drive into his own personal neighborhood developing a couple of nice resturants, expanidn the San Luis Resort to include a convention center for the island and now his latest project, redevoloping the old Flagship Hotel and boardwalk to mirror Santa Monica Pier in LA complete with rides resurants and a hotel. Coming soon..........the New Flagship The Flagship Pleasure Pier - Galveston Island, Texas, originally The Flagship Hotel, built in the 1960s on a pier stretching out into Galveston Bay at 25th Street and Seawall, is about to get a new life. Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. is turning the hotel and the surrounding area into a hotel of yesteryear with entertainment and a boardwalk. Upon completion, the area will contain the hotel, the Lighthouse Bar & Grill, a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and a merry-go-round. And more on the Seawall Developement front TILMAN FERTITTA UNVEILS SIX-BLOCK MASTER-PLANNED REDEVELOPMENT OF SEAWALL BOULEVARD: New Convention Center to be Centerpiece of Development GALVESTON, Texas - Tilman Fertitta has unveiled a comprehensive master plan to the City of Galveston for the dramatic redevelopment that will span six blocks on Seawall Boulevard, with the new Seawall Convention Center as its centerpiece. Fertitta said that the enhancements will greatly revitalize four key beachfront blocks - 53rd to 57th Streets - and will be an extension of the Mediterranean-inspired style of the 22-acre San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference Center. "This development project will take tourism to a new level in Galveston, by transforming these major tracts into a spectacular beachfront promenade, unlike anything ever seen on the Island," Fertitta said. "This plan will enable Seawall Boulevard to regain its stature as one of the greatest boulevards along the Gulf of Mexico, as it will add more pedestrian activity and become a premiere visitor experience for conventioneers and families." The project master plan includes the Seawall Convention Center, the expansion of the Hilton Resort, the construction of a dramatic Rainforest Café and Retail Village, a Rainforest River Adventure Ride™ and a mountain of cascading waterfalls, The San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference Center, and International House of Pancakes (IHOP). Seawall Convention Center The 130,000-square-foot, multi-level, multi-function facility will provide column-free exhibition space and numerous meeting rooms on the ground floor, and a balcony, a large pre-function area and a divisible ballroom on the second floor. The entire frontage of the exhibition space, ballroom and meeting pre-function areas will offer unparalleled views of the Gulf of Mexico. A 28-foot floor-to-ceiling clear wall is anticipated for the exhibition space on the first floor, while the second floor's grand ballroom will have an 20-foot floor-to-ceiling clear wall, all adjacent to the pre-function area that overlooks the Gulf. The center will be backed by a generous-sized staging area to support the ballroom and function space, as well as a full-service kitchen. The center's facilities will enable function rooms flexibility in speed, comfort and ease for the set-up and tear-down of function activities. The front facade and drop-off areas will be enhanced with seating areas, water features and extensive Gulf-front landscaping, and a 50-foot setback will be treated as a major pedestrian plaza. As the convention center will be used for evening functions as well, the plan will include extensive lighting enhancements, which will dramatically illuminate its presence on the boulevard. In addition, the center will be supported by a two-level underground parking garage. Hilton Resort Expansion: An multi-story tower will be erected at The Hilton, expanding the number of its guestrooms from 150 to 240, and adding up to five large meeting rooms to the ground floor. All of the rooms will have an uninterrupted view of the Gulf, as well as designer furnishings and fax/modem data ports. Other amenities include its outdoor swimming pool complete with a tropical swim-up bar, a fitness room and heated whirlpool. A café-style restaurant will continue to offer service throughout the day. Rainforest Café: To add a family entertainment concept to the Seawall development plan, Fertitta will bring the nationally popular Rainforest Café to the beachfront. This mind-blowing theme restaurant surrounds diners with the sights, sounds and aromas of a tropical rainforest - vine-wrapped trees, water-dripping ledges laced with bright flora and lush foliage hanging from the ceiling. Lush vegetation, larger-than-life Banyan trees, cascading waterfalls, majestic rock formations, shooting stars and changing constellations, tropical music, cool mists and simulated rain storms, complete with thunder and lightening fill the facility. Whimsical butterflies, trumpeting elephants, playful primates, snapping crocodiles, slithering snakes and other indigenous wildlife inhabit this authentic rainforest environment. Rainforest Café also provides a unique shopping experience. The Retail Village offers an exclusive line of clothing featuring the eight "Wild Bunch" animal characters, and a wide variety of rainforest theme items, many under the Rainforest Café private label, such as home accessories, jewelry, bath products, educational tools, food, games, puppets and toys. Its Temple-like theme will feature elaborate fountains to engage boulevard activity at the front entrance to the restaurant. The Rainforest River Adventure Ride™: In addition to the Rainforest Café, the project will also include a Rainforest River Adventure Ride™. Visitors will be delighted as they are swept away in an eight-person raft to travel the rainforests of the world. The trip will take them to such exotic places as the Amazon, the rainforests of Africa, India and other exciting locations. Guests can explore the flora and fauna associated with each region. The Rainforest River Adventure Ride™ is full of exciting features which are sure to delight the guests. The San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference, Landry's Seafood House: The remainder of the area - from 51st to 53rd Streets - features the award-winning, Four-Diamond San Luis Resort, which includes the luxurious 16-story, 250-room San Luis Hotel and its elegant spa and top-rated Steakhouse restaurant; the Condominiums at The San Luis; Landry's Seafood House and the International House Of Pancakes (IHOP) Restaurant In short, with the addition of Schlitterbahn, the island is getting pretty interesting!
Could you possibly save, downsize, and host those pics yourself? I can't stand the scroll right, left, up and down just to read them! Otherwise, cool updates!
Wow. I'm impressed. It looks like it will be something in a few years. Just imagine if the darn hurricane hadn't occured 102 years back. This would be a site dedicated to the Galveston Sea Rockets.
Yeah...minus the BLUE water and the mountains in the background. I'll take Santa Monica any day of the week.
If it hadn't been destroyed in 1900? I think the history of Houston and perhaps of Texas might have been quite different if not for the Great Galveston Disaster of 1900. But I think comparing Galveston to New Orleans is like the overused "apples and oranges" expression. My Cajun brother-in-law and my wife's relatives from there would be offended. There is now a paperback version of the old hardcover book , "The Great Galveston Disaster: Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times", by Paul Lester, that was written in 1900 right after the storm. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know just what happened then and how prominent Galveston was to Texas and the Gulf Coast before the storm. The black and white photos and first hand accounts of the survivors are stunning. I have an original hardcover, a little worse for wear, that my Grandmother gave me. She was living in the Houston Heights, then a separate town, when the storm hit. Many don't realize that it hit Houston pretty hard as well. My Grandmother remembers sitting on a bed in her house as a 6 or 7 year old, the place crowded with relatives and neighbors, as the wind howled, the water rose from the wood floors and it floated a block or two from it's foundatons. edit: a Refman sighting! Stick around, Refman.
Yeah, just what Galveston needs, more tourists. Maybe Galveston needs to find out a way to keep the West End from eroding during a Level 1 Hurricane before building water parks... My favorite road sign of all time is on Seawall Blvd in Galveston going west towards all those expensive apartments. It says, "THIS IS NOT A HURRICANE EVACUATION ROUTE" Every time I see that, I imagine some dumbass racing along at 70 while a hurricane is coming... wife: Uhhh, honey... husband: Quiet dear, we gotta get back to the airport! wife: But honey husband: PLEASE be quiet, I gotta concentrate! HEY, YA SLOWPOKE!! MOVE IT!! wife: But honey, that sign back there... husband: WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!!
Along with the thousands of homeless sleeping on the beach, and thousands of gangbangers hanging out on the pier, you can have it my friend!
Me too! Did anyone know that the old Balinese Room in Galveston has reopened? No gambling, but they are booking some pretty good bands in there.
