It's shaping up to be the Ohio Valley's very own theme park, complete with roller coasters, hotels and restaurants.

NEWS9's John Paul recently toured the site of the future park, which will be named Wild Escape.

Heavy machinery sits on the empty land that will make history in Ohio County. Roller coasters will tower a couple hundred feet above the property, which is located at The Highlands. Steve Minard, the mastermind behind the park design, said it will be nothing like the public has ever seen. The theme park will include the world's highest inversion rollercoaster, called The Shock Tower, plus four other coasters.

The park will also include shopping and an indoor water park, he said.

"If you count retail too, and the hotels, there's about 20 acres that's enclosed. You got about 80 acres outdoors. It's hard to imagine these numbers, but it's larger than the Mall of America," he said.

Minard said the park will be the largest earth-moving project for such a theme park in history. Workers will move about 18 million cubic yards of earth.

The Army Corps of Engineers will need to approve the current plan, Minard said, which will include filling in a retaining pond with dirt.

Minard said the location is actually the perfect place for a theme park. "When we started looking at the numbers, you've got 6 million in population within 100 miles. You get 39 million within 200 miles," he explained.

And people will soon be able to walk through the entrance of the park. The building permits should be done in the next two months. Then, according to Minard, it's full speed ahead. He originally hoped to have part of the park open by this summer.

Minard estimates the park will cost $2 million, and one-day tickets will most likely go for $50 each.