Surf City Waterpark overcame some major obstacles last week and is close to finally breaking ground this summer.

On March 21, 35 of the 40 acres of water park land south of Interstate 90 went up for sale, the Daily Record reported. Project developer, Gene Martin, said the investors financing the land were able to do so because the project didn’t meet certain deadlines.

Since then, Martin said he has met with the investors, resolved this issue and plans to finalize documents for construction within the week.

“It delayed us, but it was just another hurdle,” he said.

One of the largest setbacks that contributed to this snag in their plans, according to Martin, was the State Environmental Policy Act review. After undergoing the initial cultural resources audit, which found nothing, the state asked them to conduct an additional one.

“Although it showed nothing the first time, we had to go back and redo the cultural audit a second time, which of course cost us more money and more time,” Martin said.

The review process took 142 days to get a mitigated determination of nonsignificance. Martin said he expected it to only take 60 to 90 days, and during this period he set up funds with their lender-partner.

“It just takes time, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Martin said, “but they don’t sit there and hold that money forever.”

Now that the land is secured, Martin said he is only waiting on a few final documents to submit requests for the building permits and begin construction.

Once submitted, the permit will be processed in about 12 weeks according to Kirsten Sackett, Community Development Director.

Despite this, Martin says he hopes to break ground even sooner and begin digging before obtaining the permits for the actual structures.

The three structures will be constructed in two phases, according to county documents. Once construction starts it will take the contractor 14 to 16 months to complete the first phase Martin said.

Phase one consists of the construction of the 117,000-square-foot water park, the parking lot and a and a six-story, 249,894 square-foot, 215-room hotel. Phase two, set to follow within a year, will see another six-story, 189-room hotel built.

The park has the potential to be an economic boost for Ellensburg in job creation and tourism. Some 200 positions would open up to operate the park year-round.

Martin has said that he and his team are open to student employment, and that “our biggest export here [in Ellensburg] is our kids.”

Because of certain policies, there cannot be any area within the water park in which an attendant can’t see. This requires a large amount of lifeguards on staff and, according to Martin, they will be looking to the college to fill many levels of full-time and part-time jobs.

Additionally, Martin said they will be looking for graduating students to fill higher level jobs in marketing.

Once the park is up and running, it will have over 400 rooms. The city hopes thousands of tourists will flood money into the local economy every year and be a large boost for the community.

Martin said because of the park’s location close to the highway, locals shouldn’t expect a huge increase in traffic. Martin said he also plans to work with local businesses to set up coupons and other deals to encourage visitors to visit the downtown core area.

“It’s been a struggle and very hard, but things like this are hard,” Martin said, “We’re towards the end and I think that everybody will be very happy with what it does to and for Ellensburg.”