CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Many people might recall a lot of relaxing and fun memories at Schlitterbahn and the Waves Resort, but that’s all they’ll be for now- just memories.
The water park and resort was demolished Wednesday after they weren’t bringing in revenue. They opened in 2016, but when the pandemic hit they shut down and never re-opened.
Corpus Christi Councilman of District 4 Greg Smith said the land is owned by Diamond Beach Holdings, which is a wholly owned subsidy of IBC Bank. He said they are thinking of putting residential areas, shops, hotels, and restaurants on the 150 acres of land, but they are still in talks with the city about the future of the development.
He said he expects the developments will take after Mustang Island, which has residential areas and hotels.
“What we’re seeing is a real change on the Island. The city is in the process of doing the water exchange bridge. This is the next step in the evolution. The water park didn’t work,” Smith said.
The owners of Schlitterbahn and the Waves Resort will be taking residents’ input into consideration as to what kind of things they want to see developed on the land.
Carli Tetzlaff used to work at the water park about two years ago for the summer and said she has fond memories working there because it was a fun environment, but she’s looking forward to the new developments because it could bring in more housing.
“I know a lot of people have to drive my coworkers here, they have to drive all the way from town just to get to work, which is about a 30 minute drive so they'll be able to have more opportunities for places to live,” she said.
Third Coast Nutrition, a nutrition shop on the Island, is welcoming the changes because it could bring in more people to their business, whether it’s visitors or residents.
“I think it would be really good to have something here that's really attractive to other people to come onto the Island for people who visit because I've even ran into so many people from other states who come to the Island. I think it would just be another attractive selling point for people to come here,” Chanel Bedros, the store’s owner said.
Greg Smith said there isn’t a timeline yet for the developments that will occur on the land where Schlitterbahn and the Waves Resort once stood.
