Theme park submits plans for major new attraction
A West Midlands theme park is planning a major new attraction in the hope of luring more visitors.
West Midlands Safari Park in Bewdley has lodged plans with Wyre Forest Council for an Ice Age outdoor interactive attraction.
The new facility is intended to resemble a walk through an Ice Age environment and is intended to complement the Land of the Living Dinosaurs attraction which opened at the part two years ago.
The Ice Age exhibit will feature themed ice cave tunnels, static and animatronic replicas of extinct animals, a frozen pond, replica rock work and crowning it off, a walk-through 26ft-tall volcano.
The new attraction fills the unused space bordered to the north by the sea lion arena, to the east by the Treetops pavilion and road, to the south by the exit road from the wildlife reserve and to the west by the existing dinosaur exhibit.
The site will be visually separated from surrounding areas to keep the experience discreet, but an element of the themed ‘volcano’ will overflow into the sea lion arena so that glimpses can be seen from that area and the main walk through of the ‘Discovery Zone’.
Visitors will access the attraction via an elevated walkway, having a fire/volcanic theme, and visitors leave will exit via a ground level tunnel underneath. This latter feature will have an ice age theme.
Part of an existing garden wall will need to be removed to enable the flow of people out of the site.
A design statement by Kidderminster-based Painter Architects has been submitted in support of the application.
It states: “The scale is dominated by the life-sized animal exhibits, some as large as 4m tall. The real scale of these man-made exhibits is purposefully to be both educational and capture the imagination of visitors, providing an immersive experience so that one can imagine what the world felt like in the relevant ages.
“The largest element of the scheme is the volcano structure, which will reach a maximum height of approximately 8 metres.”
The walkways and volcano structure will be themed in keeping with the proposed elevations, with the rockwork structures made from sprayed concrete, sculpted and painted to replicate rock, ice and lava. There will also be some timber decking walkways.
