With debut slated near Hurricane Ian anniversary, could SWFL Great Wolf Lodge be delayed?
Editor's note: This is the latest in a series on Florida's first Great Wolf Lodge, one of the most significant endeavors in Naples history that's drawing plenty of questions from you. One of Collier County's biggest private workplaces, the 530,000-square-foot resort and water park is slated as Southwest Florida's third largest employer in tourism, drawing by itself the same number of visitors in a year that all of Collier in its entirety attracts in nearly three months time.
Even though I ever so briefly lived there, have never been a big fan of Texas.
It probably stems all the way back to that 1972 Super Bowl stinker when the Miami Dolphins could only manage three points against the Dallas Cowboys, tied for the fewest ever in the championship. Or how until that Christmas Eve victory gift in December, the Dolphins hadn't beat them in two decades and won only once in 30 years. How about 'dem Cowboys? Ug. At least, we'll always have the Thanksgiving 1993 Leon Lett game.
Now, rival Texas wants to take something else away from us Floridians. The honor of getting the milestone 20th Great Wolf Lodge in the United States, and potentially opening before ours in Collier County even though construction started here first, prior to Hurricane Ian's disruption. Here's what to know.
What state is getting the next Great Wolf Lodge, No. 20 in the U.S.?
"It's going to be close, Phil, to be honest with you," Vice-President Jason Lasecki said of dueling rising mammoths in suburban Webster, Texas and Naples. "There's a little friendly competition (to) see who ends up coming out first. But regardless, personally I'm hoping there's at least a three- or four-week break between the two so I can deliver two grand openings that are spectacular. I don't know if people really understand the scale and scope of Great Wolf, and I think once they see everything finished and walk through those doors, they're just going to be in awe."
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What are current debut dates for Great Wolf Lodge in Naples and Texas?
With about 600 employees, the $250 million Great Wolf Lodge South Florida plans a Sept. 25 arrival while Texas just got slotted in to Oct. 18. When weather doesn't get in the way, Great Wolf's track record is to continue moving up dates and allow earlier and earlier bookings, but the Lone Star scenario of galloping ahead makes that less likely for the Sunshine State at the moment, Lasecki said.
"We will need to leave a gap between the two," the Chicago-based Lasecki said. "So at some point, we'll have to make a decision, 'This one is going to have to be first, and the next one will be like, three or four weeks out.'"
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Could the Collier County Great Wolf Lodge be delayed in Florida?
Barring a worst case situation, that isn't likely for the attraction, expected to draw 500,000 annual visitors, Lasecki said.
"I wouldn't say at this point that Sept. 25 is set in stone, and it's going to be it. I would say it's probably the latest we would open," the former Florida resident said, with the target date close to that two-year Hurricane Ian anniversary. "Personally, when you kind of come out of a hurricane where it's caused a lot of damage and destruction, the community is recovering. Sometimes projects like this are beacons that the recovery is well underway and can turn a corner.
"So hopefully, that's what we're able to provide here for the Southwest Florida community when we open."
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. He writes In the Know, one of USA TODAY Network's most read local news columns in the state. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Will Texas get next Great Wolf Lodge before Florida opens its first?
