(Arnolds Park)– The Arnolds Park City Council Wednesday evening approved the re-zoning of some properties immediately adjacent to the amusement park. Arnolds Park CEO John Pausley says it will accommodate plans to build some housing for the park’s international workers…
“The amusement park was able to purchase a couple of lots and we’re in negotiations to purchase a couple more adjacent properties. The goal of the properties is to be able to build some international student housing, some dormitory-style housing. As we know the amusement park can’t operate without the international students that we have. We have about 120 of them on staff this summer and the lodging for them over the years has just not been adequate. And so we want to make sure we’re safely, responsibly, taking care of them. They’re very valuable to us and so we want to make sure we have a nice place for them to stay, a safe place for them to stay without them riding their bikes far distances across Highway 71, and so we really want to build some international student housing. And then theother properties, the future is yet to be determined but something to do with the Arnolds Park operations as far as storage, parking, or a maintenance facility of some sort.”
Pausley says that while they are currently working on a design for the buildings, the project will likely be on a pretty quick timeline…
“It would probably look like an apartment building from the outside. We don’t have full drawings yet as to exactly what that would look like. We’re working through the process of what that’s going to look like in general. But it will be some sort of apartment style. And then also it would be the goal to have it done by May of next year but as you know construction and everything going right now, we’ll see how that turns out.”
The council approved the rezoning as recommended by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. It followed a public hearing that was held as part of Wednesday’s city council meeting.
