Great Wolf Resorts Inc. has begun building a $250 million indoor water park and hotel in Perryville that will be the brand’s largest resort and employ more than 850 people.
A 700-suite hotel and 126,000-square-foot water park, the 20th for the company, are expected to open in middle-to-late 2023 at Chesapeake Overlook, next to Hollywood Casino Perryville and just off Interstate 95.
“Being a short driving distance from several key markets makes Perryville an ideal location for a Great Wolf Lodge,” Murray Hennessy, Great Wolf Resorts’ CEO, said in an announcement.
State and local officials expect the project to boost employment and tourism in Cecil County. The Chesapeake Overlook site has been long-planned as an entertainment district. Town and county officials had said the resort could attract a half-million visitors a year.
“We anticipate Great Wolf Lodge will be the first project in what promises to be the most significant growth period our town has ever seen,” Perryville Mayor Matt Roath said in an announcement.
The project is expected to generate more than 2,000 construction jobs over the two-year building phase. Permanent jobs will include engineering and information technology professionals, lifeguards, housekeepers and other positions.
Great Wolf Lodge Maryland will be open year-round, with a heated water park featuring body slides, tube slides, raft rides, pools and splash areas, several dining options and meeting space. The Great Wolf Adventure Park will offer attractions such as MagiQuest, a live-action adventure game where players battle goblins and dragons with interactive magic wands.
The hotel will include suites with multiple bedrooms to host large groups as well as themed suites designed as log cabins or wolf dens.
Great Wolf Resorts opened its first location in Wisconsin in 1997. It operates its closest resorts in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.