This summer is shaping up to be a lot cooler, with the recent announcement that Serengeti Springs, the upcoming water park at the Hattiesburg Zoo, is set to host its grand opening Memorial Day weekend, which this year begins on May 25.
Rick Taylor, who serves as executive director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission – which operates the zoo and the water park, among several other Hattiesburg attractions – said although there is still some work to be done, he is excited to finally welcome the public to one of the city’s most anticipated attractions in recent memory.
“I feel good about it – if you look at certain things like the parking lot, you worry a little bit (about completion), but we’re on target time-wise,” he said. “I think we’re in good hands with the various groups that are performing the work out there.
“Any way it happens, we are opening on Memorial Day weekend, no matter what.”
Construction on the $10.5 million water park is taking place in two phases. Work on Phase I, which began last summer and is currently underway, will include a Fusion Fortress Water Play Structure, an entry building with a gift shop and showers, a 150,000-gallon lazy river, a swim-up pool and bar, group pavilions, cabanas, food trucks, a staff office building, and loungers and Adrirondack chairs.
The Fusion Fortress will consist of nine slides of varying heights, along with multiple water play areas and two bucket dump stations.
Underneath the Fusion Fortress will be a Life Floor, which provides a cushioned floor that is anti-microbial and will hold no standing water. The Life Floor will feature an additional 19 spray toys.
Work on Phase II of the water park will begin anywhere from two to four years after the opening of Phase I. That phase will consist of a tower of four water slides.
The $10.5 million price tag for Serengeti Springs will be funded by the Hattiesburg Convention Commission’s earned revenues, along with the existing 2-percent restaurant tax at Hattiesburg restaurants. The water park will be designed to be self-sufficient and profitable.
As far as parking, the zoo will continue its shared agreement for parking space with Hardy Street Baptist Church, in addition to the zoo’s current parking.
“I know there’s a lot of people I’ve talked to who were curious about what the plan was (as far as the timeline),” Taylor said. “They look at it and they get a sense that it’s getting close, from the (view) from Hardy Street.
“So I know we’re excited to be able to tell folks that (Memorial Day weekend) is the date; what you see out there, you’ll be able to enjoy (shortly), so we hope they’ll make plans for it.”
Ticket sales are now available online at www.serengetispringsms.com.
Season passes for 2024 can be purchased for $90 each, while day tickets will soon be available for $25 each for Mondays through Thursdays. Gift cards also are available, starting at $25 each.
“The day passes are not online yet; that won’t occur until fairly close to opening,” Taylor said. “But season tickets are still up, and I think we’re a little beyond 70 percent of the allocation of season passes that we’re going to put up, so we encourage folks to go ahead and get those.
“Obviously, as we get closer to opening and the weather warms up, we’ll start thinking more seriously about how many times people may be out visiting the water park. But the day passes, the ability to book group events and birthday parties and that sort of thing, will occur in late April or early May.”
