The new Lost Island Theme Park in Waterloo was supposed to open one week from today but the owners of the park now say they'll have to delay the original June 10 opening.

Let's start with the great news. Today is the opening day for Lost Island Waterpark in Waterloo. The largest waterpark in Iowa, Gary Bertch and his family opened Lost Island in 2001. It recently was voted the 2nd best waterpark in America in a contest conducted by USA Today.

The Bertch family also owns the new Lost Island Theme Park in Waterloo. First announced nearly three years ago, work has been continuing toward the park's 2022 opening. Back in late April, it was revealed that the new 90-acre park would open on June 10. Yesterday, that opening was delayed slightly.

In an online announcement, Lost Island Theme Park said, "Regretfully, due to construction delays, we have been forced to push our opening date to Saturday, June 18th. Creating a brand new theme park from (the) ground up has been a huge undertaking. As much as we look forward to sharing it with you, these delays are out of our control."

The new park has had to deal with some challenges during the final phases of construction. Back in March, a fire broke out in a building under construction that already held the control system and loading station components for Yuta Falls, the park's log ride. In a press release at the time, the Bertch family said the systems for the ride were destroyed. This week, Lost Island Theme Park announced they've "been trying very hard to get the parts but (it) may likely be a 2023 attraction."

Earlier this week, Lost Island Theme Park announced that due to supply chain issues the Matugani roller coaster will "make a fashionably-late appearance this summer."

Growing pains are to be expected with a new theme park. A huge undertaking, indeed, opening day is now just a couple of weeks away. By all indications Lost Island Theme Park is going to be an impressive place and people from all over the Midwest are waiting anxiously to check it out.

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