Why Decades is good for Arizona
Why bring Decades to Pinal County
Designing for the heat
Meet the Decades team
Frequently Asked Questions

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Why bring Decades to Pinal County

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The location of a major destination theme park, resort and retail district requires planners to consider many factors with a perception and understanding of the short, intermediate and long-term growth requirements of a successful project. The opening day of Decades will be just the beginning of a potentially rapid growth curve for the immediate and broader geographic areas.

Great care has been given to the following parameters in site and market location:

Proximity to major and growing metropolitan and tourism markets:

  • Within 50 minutes of central Phoenix.
  • Within 50 minutes of central Tucson.
  • The tourism market in the Central and South Central Arizona Markets amounts to over 21 million people per year.

Space for phased growth of the theme park and associated hotel and retail districts:

  • Pinal has vast areas of undeveloped land with reasonable acquisition costs.
  • Enough space can be acquired to provide for a required 15-20 year master planned Theme Park & Destination Resort District.

Transportation Corridors and Alternative Mass Transit possibilities:

  • Pinal County is the corridor for ground traffic between Phoenix and Tucson.
  • I-8 & I-10 intersection - five hours by car from San Diego or El Paso, six hours from Los Angeles.
  • Railroad infrastructure crisscrosses the central county region – possible commuter rail use and infrastructure planning.
  • Airport infrastructure exists for possible regional air traffic capacity expansion.

Weather and total potential annual operating days:

  • Heat Index “Comfort Factor” is comparable to Orlando, Florida for June-August.
  • Sunshine 340 days a year – allowing for yearround operations and activities.

Competition in the local and regional marketplace:

  • Phoenix/Tucson is the only major “megapolitan” area in the U.S. market without a major destination theme park and resort – there is no competition.
  • A destination theme park and resort in the Phoenix/Tucson Megalopolis Corridor will compliment the existing and growing Entertainment and Resort facilities for all communities including the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan markets.

Political and public acceptance from a community:

  • Local businesses in Pinal support the idea of a theme park in Pinal County.
  • Local officials in Pinal cities and towns support the idea of a theme park in Pinal County.
  • The Eloy Town Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting DECADES' legislative efforts and the idea of the theme park being built within Eloy.
  • The Arizona State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1450 which allows for the formation of a regional attraction district in Pinal County that can issue up to $750M in revenue bonds.
  • Governor Janet Napolitano signed Senate Bill 1450 into law on June 27, 2008.