Great Wolf Lodge Aims to Take Over, Renovate Key Lime Cove in Gurnee

Great Wolf Lodge is looking to purchase Key Lime Cove in Gurnee, renovate the facility and reopen in 2018.

A revenue-sharing agreement approved by the Gurnee Village Board this past week with Great Wolf Lodge will allow Great Wolf and the village to collect $550,000 per year in hotel/motel taxes. Once they have both hit this mark, Great Wolf will collect 100 percent of that tax revenue, village officials said. The agreement will run through 2029 and allows the resort to collect up to $18 million.

This agreement would take the place of the cost-sharing agreement the village currently has with Key Lime Cove.

Under that agreement, the village is only bringing in, on average, about $400,000 per year from Key Lime Cove since the water park and resort opened in 2008, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Village officials said during a village board meeting this past week, Great Wolf is hoping to close on the sale of Key Lime Cove by this spring and would close for a year to renovate the property.

The plans for the Great Wolf Lodge redevelopment includes adding 20,000 square feet of new indoor waterpark space, outdoor waterpark amenities, increased shopping options, and the re-theming of the resort to a Northwoods theme, according to the village of Gurnee.

“The Village of Gurnee is excited to welcome Great Wolf Lodge in to our community,” said Mayor Kristina Kovarik. “The halo effect from this project will benefit the entire region.”

Great Wolf Lodge runs waterpark resorts in Wisconsin Dell, Wis., as well as in Ohio, California, Texas and other states.

Photo caption: Great Wolf Lodge Resort in Grand Mount, Wash. Photo credit: Loren Kerns from Tigard, Oregon, USA via Wikimedia Commons