Three Major Tourism Projects Worth $90 Million Break Ground in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; Pedestrian-Friendly Complexes To Serve Smoky Mountains Visitors.

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PIGEON FORGE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2004

Work has begun on three major developments with a total investment value of more than $90 million in the Smoky Mountains resort community of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The developments will expand the city's already diverse mix of entertainment, dining and shopping.

The projects (in order of anticipated opening) are:

-- Walden's Landing, a specialty shopping, dining and

entertainment complex whose architecture will recall town

squares in the small communities of east Tennessee and western

North Carolina. Opening is planned for Memorial Day weekend

2004.

-- Boyds Bear Country, a destination retailing facility that will

offer an array of stuffed bears, collectibles and crafts in a

barn-motif 110,000-square-foot building that also will have a

500-seat restaurant. Opening is planned for the fall of 2004.

-- Belle Island Village, a multi-faceted development covering 21

acres in the heart of Pigeon Forge. It is on an island created

by two branches of the Little Pigeon River, and opening is

anticipated in the spring of 2005.

"All three of these developments were announced within a month of each other. Both individually and collectively, they make a great statement about the appeal of Pigeon Forge," said Leon Downey, the city's executive director of tourism.

Downey said all three will provide new and different reasons for people to visit the resort town, which is home of the Dollywood entertainment park and approximately 5,100 permanent residents. It is adjacent to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, America's most visited national park, and counts approximately 11 million visitors each year.

"Belle Island Village represents about $60 million in investment, while Walden's Landing and Boyds Bear Country are $15 million or more apiece. They will feature more than a hundred new retail businesses and dozens of restaurant and food operations. This is an exciting time," Downey said.

Walden's Landing, located on the Parkway toward the north end of Pigeon Forge, has space for 28 stores and restaurants. It will include a 70-foot-tall courthouse, tree-lined sidewalks with benches and a replica of an old-town fire hall, complete with a restored 1939 Dodge Hunter Pumper fire engine. In the middle of the complex will be a 36-hole interactive miniature golf course.

Among the businesses at Walden's Landing will be Calhoun's Restaurant, Thomas Kinkade Galleries, the Atlanta Bread Company, Birkenstock Shoes, the Garden Gate and the Tool Zone. In all, there will be 58,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Boyds Bear Country will be on the opposite end of town off the Parkway on Cates Lane. It is part of Boyds Collection Ltd. (NYSE:FOB), a leading domestic designer, importer and distributor of high-quality, branded giftware products. Its trademarked slogan is that it is the "World's Most Humongous Teddy Bear Store."

The first Boyds Bear Country opened in Gettysburg, Pa., in 2002, and it attracted approximately a million people in 2003. The Boyds Bear Country building will be styled after a traditional bank barn and will feature three floors of merchandise.

Among the store's areas are a "teddy bear nursery," a place for shoppers to design and make their own bears and other collectible animals, an area for making craft items and locations for themed family portraits. Special events involving crafts, holidays and music will be scheduled throughout the year to encourage repeat visitation.

Belle Island Village's 21 acres make it the largest of the three newly announced developments. Plans call for more than 250,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and attractions space. Approximately 75 specialty stores and a dozen restaurants are anticipated.

In addition, there will be stages for live entertainment, a carousel, a Ferris wheel and other attractions. There also will be 120 hotel suites located on the second floor throughout the village. Its architecture will reflect a traditional 1930s southern town, and most of its restaurants will offer waterfront dining, some with outside decks along the river.

"All three of these developments are exciting," Downey said. "They enhance our year-round appeal and add to the excitement created by businesses such as Dollywood, Dixie Stampede and more than a dozen theater shows."

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