It has been two years since the Williamsburg Pottery revealed plans to build a theme park adjacent to the property.
But since then, nothing seems to have happened.
Paul Holt, planning director for James City County, said those behind the project has not submitted any applications or updates to the county.
“While I remember there being some ideas floating around, no applications were ever submitted to JCC,” he wrote in an email.
The 737-acre property, known as “KingsLand USA,” was supposed to be transformed into an amusement park with plans to include augmented and virtual reality attractions, indoor theme and water parks, a biodome, hotels and even an assisted living community for the elderly.
The property covers portions of James City and York counties but neither have worked on the project in the past few years.
“No applications have been submitted and I have not had interaction with that project for some time,” said Jim Noel, director of economic development for York County. “The last information I was given was they hadn’t abandoned it but they’re refining it and doing more analysis.”
Documents previously obtained by WYDaily through the Freedom of Information Act showed the counties were making use of the Commonwealth’s Virginia Business Ready Sites Program to evaluate the Pottery’s property and assess its readiness for development.
The project received a $2,500 grant from the state for assessments.
Noel said those land assessments had been completed but the owners continue to invest money into further assessments.
The Williamsburg Pottery did not immediately respond for comment as to what those assessments revealed.
“That’ve done the base work at this point to understand how to position the property and what the best use is,” Noel said. “They’re determining how they can proceed with a fruitful and profitable land development.”
Noel reiterated he had not received any updated information on the project in more than a year.
In 2016, the property featured a website with pages of information on potential ideas for the project.
“The goal of the Williamsburg Pottery is to either sell land to or enter a joint venture with one or more developers in order to turn this land into a profitable and quality area for both the local communities and tourists,” the page read, according to previous reports.
The page also included concept art for the park.
But more than two years later, the website now only features the KingsLand emblem with the words “coming soon” below.
Now, in addition, there is only a five-minute video featured on a separate page of the Pottery’s website along with photos of unidentified individuals involved in the project. The video shows aerial footage of the area where the park would be constructed.
The Williamsburg Pottery again did not immediately respond for comment on the status of the project or why previous information had been removed from the website.
