Water Park To Be Built in Yukon, OK

Many of you may recognize the name Scott Myrick as the man who actively supported Tuesday’s special election, but he’s also the owner and developer of a new water park that will be built near Yukon.

Myrick decided about eight months ago he wanted to build and fund “Thunder Falls,” a water park and hotel that will resemble a Great Wolf Lodge style of entertainment.

The park will be similar in scale to Great Wolf Lodge and will have the same kind of feel because of it, he said. Although it will be similar, it’ll be a “one of a kind water park,” he added.

Myrick previously brought the idea of a water park and hotel to the former city manager, but he wasn’t interested. Myrick decided to bring it up again to City Manager Jim Crosby.

“He immediately loved it,” Myrick said.

The park is completely privately-funded by Myrick, but he said several banks have shown interest in becoming involved.

Huitt Zollars, who built several water parks in Florida, LEGO Land and Volcano Bay at Universal Studios, is building the park. The same architect who designed Volcano Bay is also designing Thunder Falls.

Myrick is a lifelong Yukon resident, and wanted the park to be built in Yukon at the Frisco Road and Highway 66 interchange. He began buying land around the interchange in 2015 because he saw potential in the area and thought it’d be a great opportunity, especially as the sports complex came into play.

“I thought it’d be a great opportunity to accommodate the City of Yukon sports complex and the complex, if it went in, would more or less accommodate my water park, making this area a true family destination,” Myrick said.

Myrick admitted he unfortunately didn’t know what he was getting into when he bought the land.

“Where do I start? It was very complicated. I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. Initially when I made an offer on part of the Yukon property, I found out about the annex agreement and how Oklahoma City would allow Yukon to annex the property in Yukon limits. However, it was contingent on that they used it for a sports complex and they couldn’t turn around and use it for retail,” Myrick said. “Mr. Crosby and myself, along with my engineer, went to Oklahoma City to see if they would ratify the annex agreement to allow me to put in the water park on Yukon property where we would benefit off the sales tax and not Oklahoma City, and that wasn’t happening. So we cut a deal where Yukon would sell me the property and we would have Oklahoma City annex whatever Yukon sold me back to Oklahoma City limits, which would allow me to turn around and use it for the water park.”

Some residents have expressed concern that because it’s Oklahoma City’s property, the City of Yukon won’t benefit from it at all, but Myrick said he thinks otherwise.

“It’s going to bring people from all over. They’re going to stop off in Yukon shops, go to gas stations, eat at restaurants and the hotel I’m building will only hold 200 to 300 people. There will be days when it’s fully booked and the capacity is full so people are going to have to stay at Yukon hotels and spend money at Yukon hotels. It’s a win/win for everybody in my opinion,” Myrick said.

One reason Myrick was so active in Tuesday’s special election is because he thought the water park and sports complex would benefit from each other, and the sports complex would ensure people in the area and a larger demand for the water park.

His original plan was to scale back Thunder Falls if the bond didn’t pass because he was concerned the demand wouldn’t be larger enough for it to be a smart business decision, but Myrick said Thursday that he received so much positive feedback after revealing the plans on the Yukon Happenings Facebook page that he decided Wednesday to not change anything up and leave the plans as is.

Myrick plans to have the groundbreaking this summer then the park should take about 18 months to build, he said.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.