A new construction timeline is available for the proposed 610-acre mixed-use theme park in New Caney along Hwy. 242, said Monty Galland, CEO of the privately funded Grand Texas Sports and Entertainment District.

Portions of Grand Texas, which were originally scheduled to open to the public in early to mid-2015, have been delayed anywhere from a few months to more than a year because of design limitations with a previous engineering firm and delays in utility hookups, Galland said.

After parting ways with the park’s previous firm, Grand Texas officials hired Conroe-based engineering group Bleyl & Associates to rework the park’s master plan, Galland said.

“We’ve added a developer who is developing factory outlets along [Hwy. 59] with a similar size and tenant mix to the Tanger Factory Outlets in Texas City,” Galland said.

In addition to a factory outlet mall, Grand Texas will feature a 150-acre theme park, 40-acre water park, 83-acre Sportsplex, 30-acre Speedsportz Racing Park, an RV park with 144 lots, four hotels, and 450,000 square feet of retail and dining in a “Downtown Texas” area.

Phase 1 of the Big Rivers Water Park will span 28 acres and feature the largest wave pool in Houston with programmable waves, a large lazy river, multiple children’s slides and attractions, splash pad areas and extreme slides for thrillseekers, Galland said. Phase 1 is scheduled to open in spring 2016, though rain has delayed the completion of the water plant and other construction, he said.

“Phase 1 will make it the second-largest water park in Houston,” Galland said. “We feel we’ll have a superior wave pool and lazy river.”

The first phase of the upcoming theme park will span 71 acres and offer a wooden rollercoaster engineered by the same company that produced the Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, Galland said.