Did you hear?…L.L. Bean creating a theme park adventure center

According to articles from both the Associated Press and Portland Press Herald, L.L. Bean is planning on developing a theme park adventure center near its Freeport, Maine, flagship store. The project will feature lodging and dining facilities, and feature activities such as biking, fishing, kayaking, rock climbing and snowshoeing. It will be built on 700 acres that the company owns about one mile from its store.

L.L. Bean is, it appears, seeking to capitalize on and generate more store traffic and hopefully drive sales using a model that both Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops have found successful. L.L. Bean will use, the reports stated, its experiences gleaned from years of running its Outdoor Discovery Schools program in the adventure park’s development. According to the Associated Press story, company representatives insist that their planned development is in no way a response to Cabela’s recently announced plans to develop a 125,000-square-foot store in Scarborough — 25 miles from Freeport.