By DELANIA TRIGG, Register Staff Writer
If a McKinney area developer and his partners have their way, Thackerville, Okla. could become a burgeoning city with resort-like amenities such as a water park, restaurants, retail stores, an expanded golf course, hotels, an apartment complex, even an early childhood education center.
Right now, Thackerville is probably best known for its WinStar World Casino — a sprawling gaming complex that attracts thousands of visitors each day.
Casino officials recently announced the opening of two new gaming plazas, improved entertainment venues and a world-class convention center.
The endeavor was expected to create up to 2,000 new jobs.
Developer Billy Tate said his vision for River Ridge, an area just north of the Red River, is to maximize the potential of the 200-acre tract.
According to its Web site Riverridge-OK.com. River Ridge is a “self contained master planned development with several unique features to offer. Consisting of approximately 200 acres with underground utilities and country roads and residential lots on a championship golf course or tucked away under beautiful Black Jack oaks, River Ridge is a destination place and a lifestyle, not just another cookie-cutter community.”
Tate said some of the plans for River Ridge are not yet completed, and he admitted he is cautious about talking about some of the projects including the water park which appears on a map of the proposed projects.
The water park would be built by an experienced waterpark contractor and would include a wave pool, slides and a lazy river.
Tate said he’s also excited about two new restaurants including a 12,000 square foot eatery equipped with a gigantic barbecue pit. The restaurant is scheduled to feature smoked chicken, pulled porks, Mexican food and catfish.
“We also hope to have live entertainment at least one night a week, sometimes two,” Tate noted.
The area will also have at least one watering hole, thanks in part to Love County’s decision to approve a measure allowing the sale of liquor by the drink last fall.
River Ridge Development is not associated with the Chickasaw Nation, the entity which oversees WinStar and some of its component complexes.
While the company is working to develop the property, contractors are doing the construction work.
“A builder out of Frisco started two new spec homes,” Tate said.
The houses are fairly upscale dwellings.
Offered for between $400,000 and $500,000 the two-story homes are “currently under frame and will probably be completed in under 45 days,” Tate said.
Although the area still resembles farm land in some ways, River Ridge is ready for further development.
“We have approximately 200 acres that we’re developing out. We already have utilities in place — water, power, waste water and fiber optic systems,” he said.
The company is also in negotiations to expand the 18-hole golf course and a restaurant is set to open around Dec. 12.
“We’ve also got a strip shopping center where there is a coffee center called Red River Roast coffee shop and a restaurant — Fo Sai-Gon Noodle House.
On a recent weekday afternoon, the parking lot of the shopping center was virtually empty and the only other people in sight were restaurant employees taking advantage of the quiet time to take a break in the sunshine.
But all that will probably change as the retail outlets open and families begin moving to River Ridge.
“We’ll have a lot to offer,” Tate promised.
