Unremarkable images of dirt-pushing signal remarkable day for KSWaveCo Austin fans
Drone images from the long-dormant much-speculated about KSWaveCo pool in Austin at the former site of the NLand surf park, show dirt being graded with heavy machinery. This is big news for wave pool enthusiasts looking for a lux experience and 45-second rides, as well as the rest of the surf world.
The images taken by local news outlet The Austin Business Journal (which you can view here) show graded dirt being prepared for installation of the surf basin foundation. Originally many thought the WSL would simply use some of the infrastructure from the old NLand facility to deploy the new KSWaveCo surf pool.
It’s good news as we’ve heard very little about the project in recent years. We know that NLand was much loved before it shut, but Kelly’s project has been a mystery.
In September of 2019 Engineering firm Carlson Brigance and Doering Inc. formally introduced their plans to the city of Austin. The plans called for the retrofitting and transformation of NLand into a facility like the Surf Ranch in Lemoore California.
The WSL had purchased Doug Coors’ NLand wave pool through their Tumbleweed Opco, a Delaware-registered LLC. In the middle is the Kelly Slater Wave Co who operates Tumbleweed. Tumbleweed Opco LLC was formed just 12 days prior to the sale of NLand in 2018. Today’s report in the Austin Business Journal reports that the develpement is funded and managed between Arizona-based Discovery Land Co. and Kelly Slater.
The heavy equipment on site is a good sign. That means they have a go ahead to build the pool, which in turn means that all the necessary permitting and funding is in place.
Permitting is a big struggle for many projects as they come online. NLand overcame several obstacles inherent in being the first public wave pool in America. They boxed with county officials who wanted to strap the 14-acre lagoon with the same regulations as a public swimming pool. Construction also hit a snag when a tear in the liner flooded nearby neighbors, many of whom weren’t happy to see a wave pool in their neighborhood.
After the wave pool at Coral Mountain project was defeated in the desert community of La Quinta California, KSWaveCo has been on a roll with the recent opening of Surf Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The technology is the only foil-and-track wave technology in operation after the closure of Surf Snowdonia’s Wavegarden plow and the wavemaker at the Xing Feng Extreme Center in China.
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