Kennywood Entertainment Co. continues to bank land around the landmark amusement park for expansion.

The West Mifflin amusement park had bought 15 acres and is in the process of acquiring another 28 acres. The 43 acres are part of its long-range master plan to expand when the long-awaited Mon Fayette Expressway is built.

The $60 million expansion plan includes a hotel, an indoor water park, and some sort of signature attraction, such as a roller coaster which would be built in an area that is now a rail yard in neighboring Duquesne.

Peter J. McAneny, Kennywood's president, said his company was buying land to develop when the West Mifflin exit from the expressway is finished.

While there is no official timetable for that to happen, "the reason we are buying it now is because it's available now," Mr. McAneny said.

Mr. McAneny said that any water park would not affect the operation of nearby Sandcastle in West Homestead, which is owned by Kennywood. He said it would be impossible to build an indoor water park that could accommodate 5,000 people a day the way Sandcastle, an outdoor venue, does.

But, he said, the proposed hotel would be attached to the planned indoor water park so that it wouldn't have to be shuttered for fall and winter months, when the amusement park is closed.

The plan shows 8¹/₂ acres for new rides on an area which is now the site of the Union Railroad yard. Part of this property is a brownfield that plunges into a ravine on the eastern side of the park. Kennywood, of course, is known for its steep roller coasters, which incorporate the dramatic topography of the Mon Valley.

Mr. McAneny said he could not say for sure what new rides would be built, because, in the next six years, there probably will be a new generation of rides. But he said that any new ride would have to be able to accommodate 1,500 people an hour.

Last year, Kennywood received a $175,000 grant from the state's First Industries Fund to plan its expansion onto the new property, all of which is in Duquesne. The company had announced it would pay $2.6 million for the property.

Steve Pholar, the coordinator for the West-to-West Coalition, a Mon Valley nonprofit that works on problems associated with redeveloping former industrial sites, is working with the park and submitted the grant for the state money.

"[Kennywood] has a tradition of not dealing with the government," Mr. Pholar said.

Mr. McAneny said he only thought of trying for the grants because he was approached by Mr. Pholar, who offered to put the grants together. The proposal to the state estimates that Kennywood will wind up spending about $60 million on the project.

The $175,000 in grant money will be used for predevelopment planning and marketing studies, and for the technical site work of engineering, environmental and geo-technical studies.

West-to-West was formed in the late 1990s to coordinate the cleanup and site marketing efforts of the 22 communities which make up the lower Monongahela River Valley.