It was once hoped that the new Honey Creek Resort State Park, in Southern Iowa, would open Memorial Day weekend 2008. But, now, it won’t be until much later that year.
Arnie Sohn, with the DNR, says bids for the project have come in too high and they’ll reopen bidding for a third time in June. "Because of that couple months of delays, we’re now looking at September first of 2008 for a grand opening," Sohn says.
Once complete, the park on Rathbun Lake will be something completely new for Iowa. "It’s a first of it’s kind for Iowa. It’s going to have all things you’d expect to find at a traditional state park and lots of things you don’t…a golf course and indoor water park for example." Sohn says, because of the high bids, they’ve scaled back some of the original plans for the lodge.
"We made some hallways narrower and redesigned the rotunda area, just trying to get this down within our budget." Phase one of the Honey Creek project has a price tag of 40 million dollars.