Groundbreaking Festivities Feb 14 for the new Activity Park at Shangri-La Resort

Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor to Headline
Groundbreaking Festivities for Shangri-La Activity Park

Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell will be the featured guest at Valentine’s Day groundbreaking ceremonies for a new $5.5 million Activity Park at Shangri-La Resort on northeast Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees. The ceremonies are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Friday, February 14, at the Shangri-La Resort Hotel at the tip of Grand Lake’s Monkey Island.

“We’re thrilled to have Lieutenant Governor Pinnell join us for this announcement of additional facilities to enhance the Grand Lake and Oklahoma tourism industry,” said Shangri-La President and CEO Barry Willingham. “Governor Pinnell is the strongest voice for Oklahoma tourism, and we are excited about continuing to work closely with him to support the continued growth of Oklahoma’s third-largest industry. We are excited about the future.”

The Shangri-La Activity Park will be developed adjacent to the hotel at the resort, which also includes marina facilities and a 27-hole Championship golf course. Facilities will include outdoor tennis courts, pickleball courts, sand volleyball, basketball, and a mini-Fenway Park replica which will offer wiffle ball fun for kids of all ages. The 11,000 square foot indoor facility will include bowling lanes, golf simulators, shooting simulators, pop-a-shot basketball, pool & ping pong tables, a 40-seat theater suitable for both movies and video conferencing, a coffee bar and an indoor-outdoor bar & lounge.

“We are expanding our recreational offerings to add to our popular championship golf course,” said Shangri-La President & CEO Barry Willingham. “We are also focused on providing more indoor entertainment options for our members and our hotel guests.

“People are under the misconception that Grand Lake fun can be fit into a Memorial Day to Labor Day window. We want to provide facilities that will provide year-round entertainment-focused more on a daylight-to-daylight primary season – from the beginning of Daylight Saving Time in March until the return to Standard Time in November,” he said. “There is no longer an ‘off-season’ at Grand Lake!”

Shangri-La’s hotel facilities are busy throughout the year with 119 luxury hotel rooms, 8,000 square feet of convention & meeting space, a medical spa, steam room & sauna, an indoor pool and a sprawling 6,000 square foot outdoor resort pool with splash pad, tanning ledge, hot tub, food & beverage services, and fire pits. The resort also offers a variety of food & beverage services at Doc’s Bar & Grill, the Summit Restaurant and the seasonally operated Eddy’s
Lakeside Bar. Yacht charters, boat and personal watercraft rentals, and parasailing are also offered by Sail Grand at Shangri-La Marina adjacent to the resort hotel.

Construction of the Activity Park will bring the total investment in the fabulous resort facility to more than $75 million since the property was purchased by Eddy Gibbs in 2010.