King Mohammed VI has approved construction of a $184-million theme park and cultural center at a former mine site

he “green mine” project is to be located entirely inside the urban core of Khouribga, in the heart of the country’s phosphates production area and will cover 726 acres, equivalent to about 550 football fields. The complex will include a city of sciences, an open-air theater and an agricultural museum, among other attractions. Builders also plan 1,600 apartments, 128 villas, four vacation villas and three hotels on the site. Kingdom officials say construction techniques will adhere to the latest environmental standards.

Other features will include an equestrian club, skiing and kart racing. Visitors will have access to a cable car, artificial lakes and a botanical garden on the site.
Khouribga is located in north central Morocco. Phosphates were first mined here in 1921. The theme park’s museum will tell the story of mining in the area, retracing some 30 million years of geological history. The Museum of Natural History of France and universities in Marrakech and El Jadida in Morocco will lend their expertise to the museum complex, which is a major project of the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), the world’s chief exporter of phosphates and derivatives.

Authorities have not specified an opening date for the theme park. The attraction is part of a campaign through 2010 to build new housing, revitalize the mining industry and secure drinking water for residents, the monarch says.