Albertville Could Be Home to a New Family Theme Park

albertville theme park Albertville could soon have a new indoor amusement park -- the proposed family destination would be chock full of activities and events all based around the world of Sony's movie universe. A group of Minnesota developers and Sony are pooling resources, attempting to construct this mini indoor amusement park which will feature characters like the Smurfs, Ghostbusters and more, a Marriott hotel and a massive indoor water park. The project, which will cost an estimated $115 million to complete, is said to create some 2,000 jobs for Minnesota workers. As of now, the proposal has the support of elected officials like Governor Mark Dayton and Albertville Mayor Jillian Hendrickson. The development in total, hotel, water park and all, would be about 300,000 square feet and rest on 18 acres of land off Interstate 94 between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities.
iP2 Entertainment, a group based in Los Angeles, specializes in this type of "family entertainment center." They have opened two successful concept centers in Manila and Jakarta -- now they are working on two other center proposals in addition to Albertville. This type of center is geared towards those families who are looking to have a family getaway or vacation, but can't afford those expensive theme parks in California or Florida.
“There are not many entertainment offerings in the area that can be experienced year-round, and we believe the combination … will make it the perfect staycation for residents,” chief executive of iP2 Entertainment, Roger Houben, said in an e-mail.
One might question how many from the metro area would travel out to Albertville for this experience, but the developers are confident this center would work perfectly with the Albertville Premium Outlets Mall -- this shopping area draws over 5 million visitors a year. The project is said to break ground in the summer of 2016 and open in late 2017.   Image provided by: iP2 Entertainment    

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