VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Progress is being made at Atlantic Park in Virginia Beach with crews bottoming out the surf lagoon last week. Now crews are getting ready to begin the process of constructing the machine that will make waves.
Watch: Atlantic Park hits construction milestone as they 'bottom out' wave pool
Inside the construction site that expands from 17th to 20th Street, crews are moving dirt quickly to open sections of Atlantic Park by this Spring.
A milestone was met last week, which was laying the initial foundation of the more than 2.5 acre surf lagoon, so crews will no longer have to fight groundwater.
"As soon as we dig a hole to allow for the surf park to go into the ground then inadvertently we're having groundwater come up," Alec Yuzhbabenko, who is part of the project design, said.
Being five feet below sea level is no easy task and during the dig, there was an environmental issue with getting rid of contaminants in the groundwater.
The contaminants have since been removed and dispossed off site.
Yuzhbabenko said while it's been a challenge, having the surf lagoon at ground level is important so everyone can see the icon of the project including those walking by.
Watch: Virginia Beach's Atlantic Park on track to open Spring 2025
"You'll kind of get these windows that allow for the public to kind of enter the project walk around and look into the lagoon from various windows," Yuzhbabenko said.
Developers said the surf pool should be filled with concrete by the end of next month.
Work will begin next week on constructing the machine that will generate waves.
"The wave-generating components that need to go in will be here next week so you'll start to see some of that stuff going in in October," Joe Lamontagne, a general partner on the project, said.
Atlantic Park has multiple sections, the other areas set to open in the Spring include the Dome entertainment venue which already has acts lined up.
Watch: Atlantic Park groundbreaking 'a dream come true' for surfers behind $335 million idea
Most of the retail spaces will also be opened up with 90 percent of it being new stores to the area.
"People will be really surprised with how nice this entire project will be," John Lawson, project general contractor, said.
A list of artists and stores will be released at a later date.
Housing is also expected to be open starting next Spring and will continue into the Fall.
Lawson said water should fill the surf lagoon by the first quarter of next year.
Yuzhbabenko said some surfers will be selected to test out the waves likely in April or May.
