EpicCentral

Epic Central

An Epic Destination

Friends, food, family and fun meet in the heart of Grand Prairie at EpicCentral.  Located at SH 161 and Warrior Trail, EpicCentral currently offers Chicken N Pickle farm fresh food and indoor/outdoor pickleball courts, Epic Waters Indoor Water Park, The Epic mega-recreation center, The Epic Black Box Theater, PlayGrand Adventures all-access playground, the Summit Active Adult Center, Prairie Paws Animal Shelter, Central Bark Dog Park and Main Event Entertainment. Coming by the end of 2022 are six new restaurants, an amazing water and light show, and Bolder Adventure indoor adventure park.  In 2023, two conference hotels and parking garage will be completed, as will on-land interactive experiences, unique programming, an ever changing rotation of entertainment.

Epic Waters

Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark is a large indoor water park with retractable roof, which includes an arcade, party rooms and fun for all ages. Epic Waters features rides that have never been featured in the southwest, including Texas' first double Flow Rider Surfing Machine.

Kids on water slide at Epic Waters

The Epic

The Epic, a 120,000-square-foot fitness, arts, and entertainment facility, featuring multi-purpose courts with built-in seating, a grand atrium with high-tech library, theater, recording studio, large fitness center, second floor track and unique adventure track, artist studio, culinary arts room, performing arts theater, youth game room, indoor lap and resistance pool, an outdoor amphitheater, and more located southwest of the city's Public Safety Building.

Three people are running on the track at the Epic while three people are doing a workout nearby

Bolder Adventure Park

Bolder Indoor Adventure Park: indoor family entertainment facility which will provide adventure-based attractions in a 66,000-square-foot pneumatic dome structure with ceiling heights of approximately 75 feet. Guests will be offered a truly unique opportunity to experience rock climbing, zip lines, via ferrata, ropes courses, tubing slides, synthetic ice skating, adventure nets and more.

Bolder Adventure Park

Chicken N Pickle

Chicken N Pickle is a unique, indoor/outdoor entertainment complex including a casual, chef-driven restaurant and sports bar that boasts pickleball courts and indoor/outdoor games for all ages. Its mission is to provide an atmosphere that fosters fun, friendship, and community. A key tenet of Chicken N Pickle is demonstrated through the Our Hearts Are Local program, which focuses on creating philanthropic partnerships to strengthen our neighborhoods and beyond. Hundreds of charitable events are held annually and proceeds are donated back to the communities we serve. Good Food. Good Friends. Great Fun.

Several people outside at Chicken n Pickle. Some are playing, while some are sitting and talking

PlayGrand Adventures

PlayGrand Adventures, provides a safe and fun playground experience of ‘EPIC’ proportions for all ages and abilities. The playground includes adventure areas which are designed to stimulate, challenge, and encourage development of several skill sets while providing social interaction, sense of discovery, creativity, and exercise.

The playground is part of a much larger overall park project which includes The Epic, a state-of-the-art recreation center, Epic Waters indoor/outdoor water park, trail systems, The Summit 50+ Club, and amphitheater at EpicCentral in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Two kids are playing at PlayGrand Adventures

Vegas-style Water & Light Show Illuvia

light show

The first show of its kind in North America, Illuvia will delight your senses. Come feel the cool mist touch your face as phantasmagorical fountains leap 60 feet in the air. Witness shimmering images appearing like magic across sheets of illuminated rain. Bop your head to the synchronized beat underscoring the whole playful, fluid affair. Illuvia is so mesmerizing you’ll want to pinch yourself. No, you’re not dreaming. You’re just having the time of your life here in Grand Prairie.

SHOWTIMES:

Viewed nightly with memorable performances, each different from the one before.

Our Illuvia twilight shows feature water, lights, and music at 7:30 PM while we are in these longer daylight hours.

The full Illuvia experience featuring water, lights, music, and video projection, runs at 8:30 PM, 9:30 PM and 10:30 PM.

During the day, our water shows will run between 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM and return at 5:00 PM.

More information on Illuvia and EpicCentral

 

The Summit

The Summit, a 60,000-square-foot facility specifically for active adults ages 50 and older, features state-of-the-art fitness areas, gym, indoor infinity edge pool with lap lanes and exercise vortex, theater, locker rooms with sauna and more.

Outside view of the Summit from across the water

Creative Placemaking Attractions

The city of Grand Prairie has contracted with Outside the Lines (OTL) to develop creative innovative placemaking attractions at EpicCentral, with construction to start early 2022. OTL is a design-build specialty construction company creating one-of-a-kind water features, rock work and themed environments. In partnership with OTL, the goal is to continue to create a collection of recreational, cultural and entertainment destination attractions that draw people to EpicCentral from throughout the Metroplex, the state and beyond. The attractions will be daily recurring events refreshed 3-4 times per year in order to maintain public interest and create the desire for guests to return. Design concepts may integrate technology, water, lighting, image projection, aerial events and other inventive ideas.

Interactive Water Show

Estimated completion – Labor Day 2022

Located on one of the lakes and in the middle of the park, this will be one of the premium attractions for all visitors and guests. This impressive entertainment feature will draw visitors from afar to delight in this one-of-a-kind and awe-inspiring show.

 

Example of interactive, colorful water show to be built in EpicCentral

EpicCentral Hotel Development

The city will begin an investment in Epic Central and downtown in the coming months as we put to work the $75 million bond proposal approved by voters May 1, 2021. 

Work will include spending about $50 million for development of conference hotel facilities.

Grand Prairie will build two hotels with a connecting conference center in Epic Central, then lease management and operation to a leading hotelier, creating a revenue stream back to the city.  We expect to finalize a contract with Concord Hospitality, with the two hotels being Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites.

In addition to that revenue, the State of Texas is providing Grand Prairie an incentive to build these projects by giving back our 6.25 percent sales tax and all sales tax generated at the hotels and conference center along with anything else located within 1,000 feet of the hotels/conference center.

This will conservatively return $25 million back to us over the next 10 years. That does not include the sales tax we normally get, the rent from the restaurants and the revenue from the hotels/conference center. As you can see, the revenue generated will exceed the cost of the bond payments and actually help our tax base.

Opening Fall 2023

Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites -185,000 sq/ft; 276 Rooms (combined)
The Hilton Garden Inn will offer 129 luxury rooms, executive lounge, restaurant, pool, fitness room and business services.  The Homewood Suites will offer 147 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom spacious suites with full kitchens designed to let you live, work and play.

Convention Center - 15,000 sq/ft
The convention center will offer a 10,000-square-foot ballroom with seating for up to 1,000.  The ballrooms can be divided into five individual conference rooms in addition to an executive conference room with seating for 10 across the hall. Interiors will reflect the flora and fauna of the prairies and north Texas in tones of blue, green and whites, with accents of orange and red.

 

Concept design of Epic Central dual brand hotel

EpicCentral Restaurants

The city is building restaurant shell spaces in Epic Central, and has negotiated terms with MilkShake Concepts to bring Vidorra, The Finch, Serious Eats and Poach'd to four spaces.  The city has an agreement with Larry Levine, the founder of Chili’s, to open Loop 9 BBQ in an additional space.  This is all going in the area near where Chicken N Pickle is already open, offering farm fresh foods and indoor/outdoor pickleball courts.  

And, everything surrounds a large outdoor open space in which we can program events, concerts, and programs.

Then to further amplify the experience, Grand Prairie has bills in the House and Senate that would allow us to establish an entertainment zone encompassing the hotels, restaurants, lakes and grand lawns, just like what other cities have done.  This would allow patrons to carry their alcoholic drink anywhere inside this zone,  instead of having to leave your adult beverage at the restaurant where it was purchased.  This is important because we will have an entertainment feature on the lake and will have events on the lawn. Both Sundance Square in Fort Worth and Texas Live in Arlington have this legislative approval.

Restaurants

Loop 9 BBQ 
Loop 9 tempts guests with truly great barbecue brisket that melts in your mouth along with traditional Texas barbecue offerings.

The Finch 
The Finch will be an approachable neighborhood restaurant and bar, suitable for all of life’s gatherings. Its artisanal menu offers a variety of unique delicacies for all palates.

Opening Soon

The restaurants will open in phased beginning early fall 2022.

Vidorra –Summer 2023
Vidorra offers bold and exciting Mexican flavors, along with a large tequila selection, unique cocktail program, and lively social experience.

Poach’d – Opening early 2023
Poach’d is a new restaurant concept that offers guests a variety of breakfast/brunch favorites.

Food Hall – Opening January 2023
Food Hall will offer guests three unique dining experiences: Serious Pizza, Serious Sliders, and Serious Shakes. It will also feature an outdoor stage for various performances.

 

Aerial view of the entrance and beyond at Chicken n Pickle

 

 

EpicCentral Development Map

Map of current attractions and development areas for new restaurants and hotels

Current Attractions

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Location

2961 State Hwy 161, Grand Prairie 75052  View Map

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