The $ 28 million entertainment center project planned for the Wild River Country site in North Little Rock seems to be dead in the water, according to officials.
For 35 years, the land near the Interstate 430 and 40 exchange housed the largest water park in Arkansas. Maly Group LLC bought it in 2022 with plans to transform the property into an entertainment complex with restaurants, stores, bars, a bowling alley and a high-tech golf practice called “T-Time”.
Months after the estimated opening date of the project, the company has no construction permit for the site.
Wild River Country closed its doors after the 2019 season, and the Malin Conway group – which also owns and operates Males Entertainment in Conway – bought the property at 6820 Crystal Hill Road.
Dr. James Thomas, cardiologist in Conway, owns the Maly group. Sheridan Browning is the Director of Development of Projects of Maly, according to an article of 2023 Arkansas Democra-Gazette. The Maly group did not respond to two emails requesting a comment, nor to several telephone calls from the office.
Shawn Spencer, North Little Rock planning director, confirmed that there was no active or inactive construction permit for the project.
Maly Group “was talking about high -level golf course, bowling alleys, restaurants, apartments – I mean, all the works,” said the mayor of North Little Rock, Terry Hartwick, about the project. “All they have done was just free the earth and sold dirt.”
Hartwick said that he had recently asked Thomas and Browning what their plans were and that the two said that the project would not go ahead for the moment.
Spencer said that for the city to issue a construction permit, Maly should go through the town planning committee for the site’s plan exam, then, if there is an exemption or something that should go to the municipal council, they must go to the Council for approval. Once a site plan is approved, Maly could request a construction permit with its construction documents.
“They are not able because they have not yet passed the site’s plan exam and the property planning process,” he said. “So they did it in return (2022), then it just stopped.”
A search for city files revealed that Maly had a permit for the notation and alteration of land and a rainwater permit at a given time. The two expired, said the chief engineer of North Little Rock, David Cook.
Cook said that he had told Browning that the city would not renew a program of rainwater or a permit for the rating and modification of land until a site plan, a classification plan and an erosion control plan are provided.
“Regarding their place in the process, I’m not sure,” said Cook. “We are waiting to hear them to provide us with this information.”
In September 2023, Maly Constructions LLC, a subsidiary of the Maly group, signed an administrative consent order agreeing to pay $ 4,920 to the environment of the environment of the Arkansas. The “facts and conclusions” section of the Order said that an investigation revealed that Maly Constructions LLC had not carried out or had carried out an in -depth inspection of the asbestos of the installed installation before the demolition of the Wild river country.
The Division of Environmental Quality Investigation also revealed that Maly Constructions LLC had made an open combustion of waste and commercial waste, violating a rule of the pollution control and ecology commission of the Arkansas.
The ordinance indicated that the respondent, Maly constructions LLC, does not deny neither the factual and legal allegations in the order, but agreed to stop immediately and to prevent any future burning of open waste, as well as to pay the fine.
In April 2022, Thomas said that the project would generate $ 10 million a year for the city, including tax revenue. In addition, the announcement of the project was facilitated because the Maly group did not ask for money from the city or tax loss, said Hartwick and Robert Birch, former business development director of North Little Rock. However, Thomas said he wanted a four-track road to connect development to the I-40.
“I guess they are short of money because they have stopped everything they do there,” said Hartwick. “I met them about a month ago, and really no progress.”