Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

A crowd listens to developer Larry Vander Maten on Tuesday as he discusses plans for a proposed resort at the site of Explore Park in Roanoke County. Vander Maten said the resort would take advantage of the area's natural beauty.

Luxury hotels, live theater, restaurants, treehouse cabins, excursions to Smith Mountain Lake and the world's longest zip line were among the attractions revealed Tuesday for an expensive Explore Park makeover.

Larry Vander Maten gave the most detailed explanation yet of his plans for leasing the 1,100-acre site that he is now calling "Blue Ridge America."

He said that he wanted to preserve the natural attractiveness of the site and "brand" it based on its being on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the National Park Service's most visited unit.

"That's the selling experience. ... I want to take it and make it like a national park on steroids," he said.

"National parks draw a lot of people, but they are limited in what they can do. We can do more, but also have the good things they have to offer."

The Florida-based developer told the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority board, which controls the site for the state, and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors that the project will likely be built in two stages -- and that the total estimated cost has risen to about $200 million.

It's a sum that he conceded no lender is ready to offer in today's economic market, but "I will not give up."

While his 99-year lease with the recreation authority board does have a so-called "drop-dead date" for starting construction -- June 13, 2010 -- Vander Maten said he might be back in a year to ask for more time to try to line up financing if he can't come up with it before then.

In an interview later, he pointed out that "I'm not an economist," but added he hopes that the talk he's hearing from Washington holds true of the beginning of an economic turnaround by year's end.

If financing were available, he said, he could begin moving earth within six months and that it would take two years to complete the first phase.

"There will be no theme parks and rides here," said the narrator of a 15-minute video he showed the two boards.

Instead, the resort -- intended to draw families for two- to four-day vacations -- will provide "just pure unadulterated enjoyment among abundant beauty and natural surroundings."

The site is within a day's drive of a quarter of the nation's population, he said.

Plans call for peak final accommodations for 700 people and a full-time staff of 140, with total summer employment of 500.

The plans included an equestrian center, man-made lakes, retail shops, a golf course, conference center, spa, a system of overhead gondolas to transport visitors to every corner of the park, and what it said was the "longest, highest zip line anywhere."

A zip line consists of a suspended steel cable on which individuals ride a pulley.

Vander Maten mentioned several inspirations that apparently have influenced the park, such as Disney World; Branson, Mo.; Gatlinburg, Tenn.; and a Colorado dude ranch.

He noted that there are a few more elements of his plan that he has not yet disclosed because they are "proprietary ... intellectual property" involving other parties.

Several facilities authority board members gave the plans they saw high praise.

K.C. Bratton said the presentation was excellent and showed that Vander Maten's plan "has a little something for everybody."

"And one of the best parts is that it is very eco-friendly," blending into the park itself, he said.

Even the zip line, he said, should appeal to at least one group that uses the park now. "Mountain bikers are pretty adventurous," he said. And he said he would try it himself.

"The presentation was beautiful," board Chairman Fred Anderson said.

Eddie Goode, a longtime interpreter at the park, said he was excited by Vander Maten's plans and hopes to see them fulfilled.

But Bill Modica, chairman of the Blue Ridge Environmental Network, said that while he thought the video presentation was good, "it was puffed up a little bit. There were a few exaggerations."

Prepared for use as a tool in making financing pitches, the video shows views of the Blue Ridge Parkway from Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, for instance, and some waterways and vistas that Vander Maten associate Dale Wilkinson of Botetourt County said were intended to represent what the developers have in mind, not what is on the site.

Board member Bill Tanger, who has been working on securing improvements to Roanoke River access at the end of Rutrough Road at the edge of the park, said he was still concerned about public access at that point.

Vander Maten's plans appeared to indicate a controlled entrance to the river there, for travel as far as Smith Mountain Lake on small boats or personal watercraft.

Roanoke County Supervisor Charlotte Moore asked Vander Maten if he would "allow the [Roanoke Valley] Greenway on the property, and, if so, how would you separate it from paid admission?" Explore Park has long been planned as the eastern terminus of the greenway system.

Vander Maten said "those are issues. We made contact [with greenway officials], but never heard back. So, I don't know the answer to that question right now."

Liz Belcher, greenways coordinator, disputed that account in an interview after the meeting. She said she and other members of Roanoke Valley Greenways have provided numerous documents and held several meetings with both Vander Maten and Wilkinson since 2005.

That was the year the supervisors approved a new Explore Park zoning district that allows a wide array of uses, from hotels and service stations to a golf course, retail shops, campgrounds and a marina.

Vander Maten's most recent plans include a wide range of lodging options, from luxury hotels to parking for recreational vehicles.

There will be 60 treehouses along the riverside, and 100 individual cabins.

About 16,500 square feet of retail space is planned along a riverfront walkway.

An equestrian center is shown on the north side of the property, and there will be two theaters, one for live performances and the other for movies.

Vander Maten said the plans tried to incorporate some of the best features from the original conception for the park developed in the late 1980s.

The 1987 plan called for a $185 million project, based on a Lewis and Clark theme.

When private funding never materialized and state funds were cut off, the park's plan was scaled back to a modest ecological and educational facility that officially opened in 1994.

It never became financially self-supporting and finally closed in November 2007.