Entrance & guest service ready at BillyBird Park Hemelrijk by mid-2024

At the end of September, construction of a new entrance & guest service will start at BillyBird Park Hemelrijk. The project is part of a completely new entrance area. The first phase, the entrance & guest service, should be open to visitors by mid-2024.

BillyBird invests in the future
In recent years, Hemelrijk has invested every year in the development of the park. For example, a new attraction, the SaltoSwing transfer swing, was opened in 2021 and an event location for family & company days, Tuinterras Hemels, was developed in 2022.

The entrance area has been the same for years and that is now going to change. The current reception was built in 1990 as a “Coffee Shop”. On one side there was a catering distribution to guests in the park. On the other side, passers-by could go for a cup of coffee. Since the winter opening, which became possible due to the arrival of the Zeeroversland indoor playground, entrance tickets have been sold inside.

“We always prefer to invest in new attractions than in supporting facilities,” says recreation entrepreneur Ton Derks. He continues: “When we replaced the pebble path with the beach boulevard in 2015, we received many positive reactions from our guests. Afterwards we decided again to expand the attractions. We are working on expanding our park step by step. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford it, but that's besides the point. When we created the Oervallei playing area in 2019, we already designed this area in such a way that it fits well with the new reception building that we are now going to build.”

All under one roof
In addition to guest services, the building also houses BillyBird's office. In the future there is also room for a place where merchandise can be sold. The building consists of two parts. The left side is the entrance and has been made extra wide so that thousands of visitors can easily pass through during the high season. This will further professionalize the reception of guests. The right side is intended for guest service where visitors can obtain information about children's parties, school trips and memberships.

At the front of the new entrance building there will be a reception square where guests can gather. There will be a distribution square on the park side of the new building. From here you can choose whether to walk towards the Oervallei play area or, as now, towards the beach pool.

Part of a larger project
The entrance & guest service is the start of a completely new entrance area. For example, there are plans for a new playground under the famous Hemelaya mountain and the area should also include new catering establishments. The current reception building will be converted into a catering facility. The bottom of the Hemelaya will probably become a cave with play equipment. But both the catering concept and the cave with play equipment still have to be designed. While the development of the new reception building starts, the design of the next extension can already be made. “Then hopefully construction can start after the summer of 2024. In this way we continue to continuously improve and renew our park,” says Ton Derks.