Diehard Dracula fans may be able to sate their thirst for jelly-and-blood puddings by May 2005 when a theme park dedicated to the infamous count is expected to open. The Balkan country wants to boost its ailing tourist industry by luring visitors to the park near Bucharest, which would feature horror rides, a vampirology institute and gory menus. The long-delayed plan to build a park is back on track after securing private investment. But the park will cost more than double the original amount, said Sorin Marica, the head of the Dracula Park SA firm, which owns the project. "We'll open it by May (2005). The season starts then, so that's the best timing for Dracula," Marica told Reuters on Wednesday. Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling and Brau-Union AG of Austria were among the investors already committed to the project, sources close to the deal said. Marica said the park needs financing worth up to $70 million against $30 million originally, because the project has been expanded to include golf courses, horse racing, a karting track and a water park. The park ran into trouble in 2002 when the project was forced to relocate from a 13th-century Transylvanian town of Sighisoar, a World Heritage Site. UNESCO, the cultural arm of the United Nations, said the onslaught of millions of tourists would ruin the medieval birthplace of Vlad Tepes the Impaler -- believed to have inspired Bram Stoker's fictional Count Dracula. The Romanian state has now offered 1,137 acres of state land in Snagov, 25 miles from the capital of 2.5 million people, hoping to capitalize on one of its most recognizable names and attract much-needed foreign investment. "We're close to finalizing talks with the investors...they include foreign tour operators and investment banks," Marica said adding that the project has secured most of the money.
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