YEAR IN REVIEW #20: Construction continues on Soaring Eagle Water Park and Hotel


Construction started for the Soaring Eagle Water Park and Hotel which is expected to open in the summer of 2012.

The Soaring Eagle Water Park and Hotel continued construction with more than one-quarter of the work complete as of late August.

Construction for the resort, 5665 E. Pickard St., is set to finish by the summer of 2012 after it began in April.

“I would say it’s about 28 percent finished,” said Saginaw Chippewa Indian Public Relations Director Frank Cloutier. “Soon we will be starting siding and sheeting.”

Jason Fischl, superintendent of the construction project, said progress is being made quickly.

“The main structure is finished, including the north tower, south tower and the second floor,” Fischl said.

Horizon Construction Group of Wisconsin is building the hotel and has partnered with architecture firm Thalden Boyd Emery.

The framework is in place, but it has been too windy recently to install much glass, Fischl said. He said glass will be installed when the winds die down.

One unusual glass structure is a large skylight that will run over the water park portion of the hotel.

“The skylight is approximately 60 feet wide and 100 feet long,” said Lisa Darnell, property manager for Migizi Economic Development Company.

Darnell said plans have been on budget and in line with the schedule that was set.

“Everything is going smoothly,” she said. “There’s been no major design changes or problems.”

Construction of several different pools is also currently underway.

There will be a pool separate from the park area specifically for guests without a park pass, Fischl said.

The park will be 45,000 square feet and will include a wave rider, body slide, bowl slide, rock climbing wall, lazy river, children’s play area and a private adult pool.

Cloutier said because the hotel is not on tribal land, a liquor license specific to the square footage of the project is needed.

Gaining the license should not be a problem for the June opening, he said.

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