Dinosaur park gets green light
By ROYCELYN BASTIAN
rbastian@hcnonline.com
03/04/2008

A memorandum of understanding regarding the future development of the dinosaur park and museum, also known as Earth Quest Adventures, should put the negative rumors flying around East Montgomery County to bed.
The East Montgomery County Improvement District along with the developers Marlin Atlantis and Don Lessum have ironed out the details regarding the 150-acre dinosaur park and 50-acre museum that is scheduled to be completed by 2012.
“The memorandum of understanding outlines the details of how the revenue for the dinosaur park is going to be utilized toward the development. We know the project investment is approaching close to $700 million and with that, we know that’s going to continue to grow,” said Frank McCrady, president of the East Montgomery County Improvement District.
Projections call for 2.5 million people to visit the dinosaur park in the first year, which will bring in a projected $175 million. Based on those numbers, EMCID is expected to catch a $1.75 million windfall from the amusement park project based on its 1 percent sales tax.
The agreement also finalized a zone sales tax, which will include an additional half-percent sales tax within the zone.
“From the zone, we anticipate that we should receive about $87,500 in revenue,” McCrady said. “There is also a proposed parking tax for cars, which are parked in the zone attending the venue and we are expecting 600,000 cars annually.”
With that, developers have pledged to contribute approximately $400,000 a year into the district’s scholarship endowment fund.
A hotel tax in the dinosaur park is another anticipated revenue stream for the area. Right now, there are 15 hotels that are scheduled to be built around the park, which will generate $1.8 million annually. The proposal also includes a 300-room hotel that will be constructed inside the park that is expected to generate $1.4 million in hotel tax annually.
“Another feature that we looked at is with travel and tourism projects coming to an under-served community. We think that our existing vendors should see a 14 percent increase in revenue and that will generate another $420,000 in annual sales tax,” McCrady said.
If things go according to plan, it is projected that approximately $6 million to $6.5 million will be utilized towards park improvements and other projects such as expansion in the water and theme park.
“Time wise, we should see them break ground in nine to 12 months on both the dinosaur park and museum,” McCrady said. “What you will see in the meantime is there will be a lot of engineering and environmental studies and testing done at the site.”
East Montgomery County was chosen as the site for Earth Quest Adventures out of approximately 64 communities around the country.
The improvement district as well as other members of the community worked closely with state representatives and senators to get a bill passed in the recent state Legislature. That effort was successful and the bill, HB 4015, is currently on the governor’s desk waiting to be signed.
It is projected that this 150-acre site will attract more than two and a half million people and will create 2,700 jobs in the area, with 30,000 jobs just for the construction phase. The economic revenue from this project will not only benefit EMC, it will also impact the another surrounding communities.

11/09/2006

Dinosaur park planned for East Montgomery County

By MELECIO C. FRANCO

( Community News )

East Montgomery County has been selected as the site for the largest dinosaur park in the world.

Frank McCrady, president and CEO of the East Montgomery County Improvement District, announced on Oct. 31 that Dinosaur City, a $50 million educational park and live-animal facility, will be built in New Caney by 2010.
The facility will feature a 110,000-square-foot exhibit hall and dinosaur display, an IMAX theater, a water recreation park, hotel and convention center. Leading theme park designers, one of Germany's leading zoo directors, robotics and special effects experts are all involved in the planning for the facility. "It's going to be a nice project," said McCrady. "It can truly define our area in the future as far as travel and tourism."

The park is expected to attract more than a million visitors each year.

The facility is the concept of the dinosaur expert known as "Dino" Don Lessem, an author of 47 books on dinosaurs and advisor to Universal Studios' Jurassic Park, Walt Disney Company and Animal Kingdom dinosaur attractions.

"It will have the largest dinosaur educational facility in the world," said Lessem. "I dug up the biggest dinosaurs and they need a place to live."

Construction of the facility will be a five-year project, according to McCrady. The first phase is a $200,000 site study paid for by the improvement district to analyze the property, which is located north of Caney Creek on the west side of U.S. Highway 59 North.

"We'll partner with the state for additional financial needs," said McCrady. "It's a regional attraction not just a state attraction. A lot of people will come from out of state. It's a win for our area and a win for Texas, as well."

The park is expected to create 500 to 1,000 jobs, according to McCrady.

New Caney beat Dallas as the final location for the facility, according to Lessem.

"I liked the look of the community," he said. "The land was completely undeveloped. We want to celebrate nature. This is not a theme park. This is something that hasn't been done before. We want to keep it as pristine as we can."

Lessem wants the facility to have allied programs with the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Houston Zoo and have mobile exhibits. Live exotic animals will also be included at the park. Other projects at the facility will include educational outreach tours and field trips.
Lessem also hopes to create a university affiliation with one of the Texas universities and create a nonprofit foundation to help generate revenue to fund dinosaur research.

"We want to steer a bit of revenue towards education," he said.

Lessem explained that the dinosaur park is one way to get children interested in science.

"You can teach them all about science when they are interested in dinosaurs," he said.

mfranco@hcnonline.com

City, motorsports park may close deal
By Vanesa Brashier, Editor
November 13, 2007

Finally, the wait is over and an announcement is imminent from Liberty Motorsports Park developers regarding the proposed race track in the Cleveland area on 819 acres west of town along SH 105.