Lottemaa Theme Park Finally Greenlighted
Enterprise Estonia has increased funding to the Lottemaa theme park project from 3.2 to 4.4 million euros, after all initial bids for the construction tender last year exceeded the initial budget.
Postimees reported today that a 4.3-million-euro construction contract is in place and building will begin next week, with a July 2014 opening date set.
The project had been postponed a number of times, including in 2011, when a conflict over the name arose with the Korean-Japanese company Lotte Group, which operates a theme park in South Korea.
The theme park is based on the cartoon show “Lotte,” cherished by Estonian children. It tells the story of Lotte the talking puppy girl and her playmate, a cat named Bruno. The two protagonists live in a town of inventors, where Lotte’s father is the greatest inventor of all.
The site of the park will be on 12.4 hectares of a former Soviet missile base, which the Ministry of Defense is leasing to the foundation. Largely covered by forested land, the property has a beach and four crumbling buildings.
Visitors will see hiking trails, forts and creative, make-believe inventions from the cartoon, the creators say.