It looks like plans for The Wild Escape Theme Park at The Highlands are on track, but designers said Wednesday they are still waiting on approval for a very important part of the project.

Steve Minard, one of the park designers, said they are still waiting for permits from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Several acid mining drainage ponds are left over from when the site was mined, and those are proving to be the biggest hurdle in the project's progress, he said.

"When you fill these in, you can't just throw dirt in them. You have to be very careful that you don't contaminate the surrounding ecology, there's heavy metals, there's acid," he said.

Minard said utilities have already been extended out to the theme park site, and as soon as they get the corps permits, the project will go quickly.

Ride equipment will be delivered, and buildings will go up, some in just days, he said.

"Once things start flying on the site, you are going to be amazed because it really doesn't take that much time to get something that starts looking like a park," he said.

The project's timeline has been extended once. Minard said the project is following the revised schedule, but there's no way to tell if something could set it back even more in the months to come. The park is scheduled to open sometime in 2008.