Wisconsin Dells Convention Hosting Stage II - Kalahari Gets 10 Million Dollars

The Village of Lake Delton has given the Kalahari Resort 10 million publicly collected dollars to build a convention center ( 212 thousand square feet ) capable of serving large regional - national groups.  It is extremely unusual for a mature business to need this huge gift of monetary support from the local community.  Typically a business of this size and age would have retained the revenue through operation to expand their service.

For a small rural Wisconsin community administration to agree to give a private business operator 10 million dollars of public money- it leaves a palpable sense of unease among the residents.  Pictured are the large trucks that accompany events in a convention space that need room to park.  Some residents are suggesting this public money could have been invested in the new high school, or a library, or a public pool.

Many residents are hoping the 10 million dollar gift to the operators of the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center will be the last public money this business is given.  Simply is this a once and for all gift of money and the family operation is now off to sink or swim.

The hope is that this larger convention center will attract a new population of shared customers in to the Wisconsin Dells area.  The one certainty is that this unusual gift is being monitored to determine the quality of the outcome.  The Wisconsin Dells area has entered stage II of the convention hosting industry.