The Bloomington City Council is expected to pass a financing plan on Tuesday that will help fund a massive, new waterpark at the Mall of America.
Mystery Cove will be quite large, according to Holly Masek, the Port Authority Administrator for Bloomington.
"220,000 square feet in the building envelope, and then the pool hall, the interior would be about 144,000 square feet," says Masek. "It's planned to have a retractable roof. It will include a wave pool, lazy river, family splash pad, slides and rides."
The size is impactful. But the economic impact will also be significant.
"Total estimated new tax revenue for the city of $1.8 million," Masek predicts. "We also anticipate seeing over 650,000 visitors to the waterpark a year."
The Mall of America is already a major tourist destination for Minnesota and Bloomington, so why is adding a waterpark necessary?
"The mall's looking to get to more of a 50% retail, 50% experience mix within the building," Masek explains.
It's also been a long time coming with the potential of this project. A waterpark as part of the mall's concept goes back to original Mall of America designs in the 1980s.
"This project has been discussed actively since about 2018," Masek says. "The company and family that owns the mall, Triple Five, has similar malls in Edmonton, Canada, as well as in New Jersey, so this conversation has just become more active recently," Masek adds.
According to the city's website on the waterpark, Triple Five has had success in Edmonton with their waterpark addition keeping the mall vibrant and competitive. Over 30 million people go through the doors of MOA every year, with the waterpark addition adding to the area's appeal beyond the retail aspect.
Construction could begin next spring with the project expected to be completed in 2029.
As for the funding, the City Council in Bloomington would use Tax Increment Financing, along with private investment for the project. TIF uses the additional property taxes paid as a result of development in the district to pay for part of the development costs.
The City of Bloomington notes that without lodging and admissions sales taxes generated by the MOA, the majority of which are paid by visitors, property taxes in Bloomington would be much higher as well.