Get ready for a fun new way to beat the sweltering Mississippi heat.

The Hattiesburg Convention Commission, which operates the Hattiesburg Zoo and several other educational and entertainment venues, will soon open a water park called Serengeti Springs.

The $10.5 million water park is located next to the zoo in Kamper Park on the site of the former Cameron Field.

The baseball field, which for years housed the Dixie Boys team, was demolished, with operations relocated to the city’s Jaycee Park.

Rick Taylor, executive director of the convention commission, said plans for the water park started three years ago.

Officials were originally planning to expand the zoo’s popular splash pad but found a water park to be a better economic development driver and tourism lure.

“During the summer, the splash pad at the zoo was literally standing room only, and we initially thought we’d build another splash pad and try to alleviate this crowding,” Taylor said. “We realized that would just create the same problem, so we decided to look at something a little more expansive.”

Taylor looked to other zoos for ideas.

He found several of them, including the Audubon in New Orleans and the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky, had added water parks or expanded water features.

“We went to our board and said, ‘Look, we’ve run the numbers, and we think the best option for us is to look at adding a water park,’” Taylor said. “We talked with the city about the future of the ball field and determined the operating costs for it were pretty high, especially as it’s only one field. The board agreed with us, and the city had an interest in moving the field to Jaycee Park, which has multiple fields.”

Taylor said that the zoo had for years faced a space crisis. In recent years, officials have added a towering giraffe exhibit as well as a space for hyenas.

“That took up the remaining large-scale space within the zoo’s existing boundaries,” Taylor said. “For the zoo to grow, we knew we’d eventually have to branch out into the park. The city was developing a master plan for Kamper Park, and we got with them and expressed our interest regarding the water park.”

According to Taylor, the zoo draws visitors from a 100-mile radius, pulling in traffic from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Jackson, Meridian, the Louisiana Northshore and Mobile, Alabama.

“While planning the water park, we realized that, with the draw we get from so many places, people couldn’t do the water park and the zoo in just one day,” he said. “We realized the water park will be a huge economic driver, with folks doing the zoo one day, staying overnight and then doing the water park the next day. Economically, it’s good for Hattiesburg — people will get hotel rooms, get more meals, that sort of thing.”

As the project developed, Taylor was also eyeing its costs and the operational expenses associated with further expansions to the zoo.

“What we really need to do is create revenue streams that allow for future expansions,” he said. “We’ve got these ideas, so how do we pay for them? So, the water park will help us continue to grow, and it’ll continue our mission of a great economic development impact on the community. Plus, it’ll improve quality of life.”

The water park will be a part of the zoo, but visitors will pay two admission prices to visit both, Taylor said. The water park pricing will be “around $29 for adults, and then it’s a slightly lower price for kids,” he said.

“It’s a whole-day experience,” he noted. “We’ve looked at it — comparatively speaking to other competitors in our marketplace — and we think we’re priced appropriately. Plus, we’ll be offering season passes … and discounts on those during holiday sales, like an upcoming sale for Black Friday.”

The water park’s name shows its connection to the zoo, Taylor said.

“Sitting right across the creek from the water park is the Africa area of the zoo,” he said. “We decided the water park would be a natural outgrowth of that area. We hunted and hunted for names before deciding on Serengeti Springs. The Serengeti region in Africa has dry areas as well as more verdant ones. So, on the side of the zoo, you have the dry areas … and, at the water park, the watering hole.”

The Africa inspiration is tied in with the water park’s design elements, too, Taylor said.

He said the 5.3-acre water park is being built in three phases, with phases one and two already nearing completion.

The first phase includes the superstructure known as the “Fusion Fortress,” which features nine slides, water-dumping buckets, jets, spray toys and more.

This first phase is designed for children ages 2-12, he said.

“While we were designing it, we realized that the people who drive these kids to the water park — the babysitters, parents and grandparents — weren’t going to tolerate the heat for very long if they didn’t have something to do,” Taylor said. “That’s why we decided to start on the second phase, which is the lazy river.”

The lazy river will be a “relaxing place with a quiet calm to it,” he said. It includes a swim-up bar that will serve both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as food.

The third phase, which has a reserved space but is not under construction yet, will feature areas for older kids, including higher slides and surf pools.

“That’s the long-range plan for the water park,” Taylor said. “We have forecasted about a five-year payout before the park will have offset its own cost. We achieved that kind of payout on the zoo’s ropes course in a little more than two years. We hope to see the water park soon contributing a very significant portion of its value back toward expansion opportunities.”

The park will be fully compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations and will feature padded floors that keep people from getting hurt.

The substantial water used by the park will be recycled and reused, another “cool feature,” Taylor added.

Visitors will also benefit from numerous shade structures, including cabanas, and “plenty of fans,” he said.

There will be memorabilia relating to the area’s history, including its time as home for Dixie Boys baseball and as a horse-racing track.

There will also be numerous food options through the convention commission’s new fleet of food trucks.

“The water park will have a food court area, for lack of a better term,” Taylor said. “We determined that, rather than building a kitchen, we’d get more use out of food trucks. When they’re not being used at the water park, we can use them at another one of our facilities, like the Saenger Theater in downtown Hattiesburg.”

Right now, there will be a wood-fired pizza truck, a taco truck and a food trailer “with the components of a real kitchen in it.”

“We’ll be able to provide the kind of food that adults will like, but we’ll also have the chicken tenders, burgers and pizzas the kids might like,” he said.

The water park will operate on a seasonal basis.

Right now, the plan is to open it from Memorial Day to Labor Day, depending on the weather.

“We may do weekends prior to Memorial Day if it warms up before then, and maybe after Labor Day, too,” Taylor said.

The park was originally set to open this summer, but it will instead open in the spring of next year. Construction snags and delays moved the date, Taylor said.

“Since construction started, we’ve lost between nine and 10 days a month to weather,” he said. “That’s a month just in rain days. So, that has pushed us back.”

Another challenge affecting the water park’s opening is missing equipment.

Officials are still waiting on three pieces of electrical equipment — big switches that run the water park pumps.

“In some cases, there’s an 18-month delay in getting those switches,” Taylor said. “We don’t want to hear it, so we’re burying our head in the sand and relying on our friends at our power company, Mississippi Power, to help us out.”

All the other parts needed for the water park’s success — from the staff uniforms to the lazy river tubes — are in, and testing is underway on many of the park’s features.

“You know, my view on this, and I feel very strongly about this, is it’s better to take the time and get it right and get it complete than open prematurely,” Taylor said.

Season passes for 2024 will go on sale during Black Friday, Nov. 24, at a price of $60, which will be the lowest-offered price of the year.

Keep up with news about Serengeti Springs, including its exact open date and how to purchase the season passes, at hattiesburgzoo.com/serengeti.