BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 It\u2019s hard to get terribly excited about a multi-acre water park when it\u2019s 55 degrees outside and rainy, but that\u2019s exactly what a local developer is working on \u2014 even as he works feverishly to get ready for his annual Christmastime tradition.<\/p>\n
Christmas Town is just a few days away from opening, but that water park is considerably further away on the calendar.<\/p>\n
Call Mike Ross a big kid and you\u2019ll get no argument from anybody, not even from Mike Ross himself. The guy behind Christmas Town is back and he\u2019s got big plans \u2014 not only for Christmas Town, but a couple years down the road we may see a new water park in Bakersfield, and yes, Ross is the big kid behind that as well.<\/p>\n
Crustacean Invasion: Crawdad migration near Truxtun Avenue could be searching for new homes, food or mates <\/a><\/p>\n Ross has been organizing Christmas Town for more than a decade, including the last several years at the Kern County Fairgrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a big kid and I enjoy family entertainment,\u201d said Ross, an accountant who also owns a Chritstmas tree farm in Bakersfield. \u201cKinda make this place a funner place. We really have fun entertaining people. We just keep trying to make it bigger and better every year.\u201d<\/p>\n The attraction opens the days after Thanksgiving and runs through Jan. 3. An outdoor skating rink, snow hill, a new Keebler Elf Tree, 30 elves and of course Santa Claus. More more, of course. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for kids.<\/p>\n But all the while, Ross has another project up his sleeve. Tortuga Water Park \u2014 an amusement park very tentatively set for 26 acres at Mohawk and Hageman in northwest Bakersfield. He says advanced technology will allow the park to use no more water than three single family homes.<\/p>\n On Wednesday night the Bakersfield City Council will vote whether to approve a contract for an Environmental Impact Report on the Tortuga Water Park proposal. It\u2019s on the council\u2019s consent calendar.<\/p>\n Ross grew up in Bakersfield and fondly remembers the many ways kids cooled off when temperatures hit triple digits. Places like the Plunge \u2014 a massive swimming pool on Union Avenue.<\/p>\n