Grizzly Jack's is Illinois' first indoor water park

UTICA, Ill. -- Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Lodge, Illinois' first indoor water park complex and resort, has opened about 90 miles southwest of Chicago, and officials are hoping the resort will attract some vacationers who usually head to the famed water parks of Wisconsin Dells.

The 24,000-square-foot water park is the first in the nation with sound and motion technology that takes swimmers through virtual reality adventures such as sliding into a bear or shark's mouth, said Dan Gundrum, a board member for the 2,500-member World Waterpark Association.

"It's really great. Realistic. I recommend it," 11-year-old Nick Mitrovich of Park Ridge said after his 30-second ride through the 330-foot-long tube.

Utica Mayor Fred Esmond said the lodge is also an economic and emotional boost for the area following an April 2004 tornado that left eight people dead and damaged or destroyed a quarter of the buildings in this town of less than 1,000 people.

"I think it's a chance for us to say let's not look at the past so much, let's look at the future. The future looks good," Esmond said.

The resort, which cost $90 million to build, opened June 30 and logged some 40,000 inquiries in its first two weeks of operations, said spokesman Michael Hatt.

The water park is only open to guests staying at the lodge; day passes are not available. It is located near Starved Rock, Illinois' most popular state park, which had more than 2.1 million visitors last year.

Right now Illinois residents spend up to $700 million a year in Wisconsin Dells, a year-round vacation mecca for Midwesterners, with 18 indoor and three outdoor water parks and other local attractions.

"I long for the day to see thousands of Wisconsin license plates in our Illinois water parks," said Marc Gordon, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association.

But Wisconsin Dells will continue to call itself the "Waterpark Capital of the World," said Steve Shattuck, spokesman for its visitor and convention bureau. "When a family wants to take a water park vacation, we hear all the time that Wisconsin Dells is at the top of their list because we have the biggest, fastest and wettest of everything," he said. "We don't see that changing."

Restaurants, conference facilities, an arcade and 18-hole miniature golf course also are available at the privately developed Grand Bear Lodge, where a robotic trapper and bear greet guests in the front lobby.

Accommodations include 100 two-story villas that sleep up to 10 people. Forty more villas will open by the end of the year, along with 56 log cabins that sleep up to 18 people, an indoor amusement park and spa, Hatt said.

Because Grand Bear will be open year-round, officials hope its indoor attractions will keep the tourists coming in the dead of winter as well.

Jan Kostner, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Tourism, said the resort could draw an extra 200,000 people a year to Starved Rock.

The resort also could attract spinoff business to the area such as restaurants, shops and wineries, and new water parks could sprout from Chicago's suburbs to Rockford, tourism officials said.

"I think this is really just the beginning," Kostner said.

Utica business owners hope the resort helps boost sales they say dipped last year after some Starved Rock visitors mistakenly thought the tornado had paralyzed downtown restaurants, taverns and shops.

"We've seen some increase in business, but we've got a long way to go yet," said Lisle Elsbury, who said sales at his restaurant and tavern decreased 30 percent last year and are still down up to 15 percent.

"I think when a community has had a tragedy like they've endured this can help bring things back, both in terms of enthusiasm and morale as well as the economics," said Gordon.