Bart Blatstein opened his $100 million Island Waterpark in Atlantic City on Tuesday after a permitting delay

ATLANTIC CITY — After a scrapped grand opening due to issues with state permits, the Island Waterpark in Atlantic City opened Tuesday, three days earlier than the most recent announced date, developer Bart Blatstein said.

General admission tickets to the $100 million indoor Boardwalk attraction were being sold on the website for $89 for the Fourth of July, and Mayor Marty Small Sr. wrote on his Instagram account that the waterpark would open sooner than expected.

“I decided to open, we’re open,” Blatstein said by phone from inside the waterpark, which is next to the Showboat Hotel, which Blatstein also owns. He said people were already starting to come inside. “I don’t even know how they heard.”

A planned opening on June 30 was abruptly scrapped after the permits required by the state Department of Community Affairs had not been obtained, and Blatstein set a new date of July 7.

But the park opened unexpectedly at noon on the Fourth of July. The permitting process was completed to allow the opening, Blatstein said. A spokesperson for the state DCA did not immediately respond to a message.

Small said by text that city inspectors came in on vacation and on their days off “to make this work,” and that the state had staff “working around the clock since last weekend.” He said the state inspector was “in the building to make final clearance at 11 a.m. on the Fourth of July.”

“That’s true commitment to the great city of Atlantic City,” he said.

Blatstein said state and city officials worked for “the common cause” of getting the park opened and praised the mayor for expediting the process.

“Safety is No. 1,” Blatstein said. “It’s Independence Day and this is the Independence Day for a new tomorrow for Atlantic City. We will be known once again as a family resort town.”

» READ MORE: Bart Blatstein offers a first look inside ‘grandiose’ Island Waterpark in A.C.

The waterpark has been touted as a “game changer” for Atlantic City, and follows several failed attempts by other developers with similar ideas to get one off the ground. Despite a lot of skepticism, Blatstein can now say he got his open.

In addition to the showy water slides that protrude from both ends of the 120,000-square-foot glass building in a maze of tubes (the Barracuda Blaster, Electric Eel, and Sonic Serpent rides), the water park boasts a FlowRider wave pool, a Lazy River-type ride, a giant bucket of a waterfall, a Kids Cove, a Tiki Hut Tree House Bar, and a Paradise Adult Island area with cabanas for rent.

There are four restaurants and three bars and a Boardwalk-themed area.