Gatorland's famous alligator-mouth entrance is undergoing a little dental work as part of a $1 million renovation at the park, the most extensive in about a decade.
The 55-year-old attraction and wildlife preserve near Kissimmee is getting a new facade and landscaping, and the 42-year-old toothy entryway is being touched up and reinforced to help it welcome tourists for decades to come.
Parking is being expanded from 325 to 450 spaces, and lots of tropical trees and shrubs are being added out front to give visitors a better feel for what's inside the lush, 110-acre attraction, said Mark McHugh, its chief executive officer.
'This is going to bring a lot of that natural-Florida feel to the front,' McHugh said. 'Everybody sees the beautiful, natural exhibits and landscaping inside the park, but they have no idea it's in there, from what they see out front.'
A pond has been filled in on the south side of the parking area to make room for more parking, and the previous parking spots in front of the open-mouth entryway have been moved to make the entrance more attractive.
The face-lift coincides with a widening of U.S. Highway 441, a road with historic roots as the main north-south route through Orlando at the time the family-owned Gatorland opened in December 1949.
The highway is being widened from four lanes to six lanes between Osceola Parkway on the south and Taft-Vineland Road on the north.
Highway work right in front of Gatorland is expected to be completed by June, but the rest of the project heading north is likely to take another 11/2 years.
Hubbard Construction is doing both the highway widening as well as the Gatorland parking expansion and repaving.
McHugh said the $1 million project is the most the attraction has spent on a project since 1995-96, when the gift shop was renovated.
In 1998, the Jungle Crocs exhibit was added, and that work cost about $800,000, McHugh said.
While the latest work will improve the appearance of the gaping gator-mouth entryway, McHugh said, the basic look will remain the same.
The big teeth -- they're each about 2 feet long -- and the jaws are just too legendary and sentimental to longtime visitors and residents to alter in any major way, he said. People have been snapping pictures there for more than four decades, ever since the mouth debuted in December 1962.
The main change will be to the bottom surface of the 'jaw,' as old tile and concrete are removed and replaced with new concrete in a light-mauve color to give it a more 'natural look.' The basic construction also will be inspected to ensure its integrity and will be strengthened as needed.
The entrance work starts today; the entire project is expected to be completed by mid-March, McHugh said, in time for spring break crowds to fill the park, which has been enjoying a rebound in attendance for more than a year.
The park in 2004 roughly matched its all-time peak of about 400,000 visitors, set in 2001, McHugh said, and 2005 is off to a good start with the general resurgence in tourist travel.
Attendance last year would have most likely shattered the old record, McHugh said, if the August-September hurricanes had not interrupted the strong rebound that began in early 2004.
'We're expecting a really good year this year,' he said, good enough to pay for oral surgery on a local icon.
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