NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Six Flags New Orleans, the amusement park that has been closed since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, will reopen under a deal involving startup company Southern Star Amusements and the parent company of the Nickelodeon cable TV network.

‘‘This will mean hundreds of new jobs and revenue for the city,’’ Southern Star president Danny Rogers said Tuesday.

Plans call for construction to begin this fall on ‘‘Nickelodeon Universe-New Orleans’’ with an opening by the end of 2010. The park will be stocked with Nickelodeon’s characters including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and others. In addition to the costumed characters, there will be live entertainment, retail shops, games and food.

Many of the existing rides will be renovated and new rides and water-based attractions will be added to the park, Rogers said.

This will be the largest outdoor, stand-alone theme park done under Nickelodeon’s umbrella, which now includes more than 10 parks worldwide, said Howard Smith, vice president of recreation for the network.

The development will run between $165 million and $170 million, Rogers said.

Nickelodeon will get a licensing fee and the city will retain a leasing arrangement with Southern Star. There will be no local public funding used to construct the park.

Part of the financing package will include up to $100 million in Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds, which is only part of the financing package that includes private investment, Rogers said.

The Louisiana Bond Commission must approve Southern Star’s request for GO Zone financing.

Funding is as ‘‘solid as it can get in these times,’’ Rogers said.

Six Flags suffered heavy damage during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and its parent company, Six Flags Inc., has said it does not intend to reopen the park. The company filed for bankruptcy reorganization on June 13, saying it needed to lighten a $2.4 billion debt load.

The city, in a federal court suit, contends that Six Flags is obligated to run the park. That suit was put on hold because of Six Flags’ bankruptcy filing.

Six Flags pays $1.4 million a year in rent, which in addition to $1 million a year from the city makes up the $2.4 million annual payment due until 2017 on a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development loan used to build the park in the late 1990s, when it was known as Jazzland.

Among the ideas floated for the park was converting it to a recreational sports complex.

Congressman Anh ‘‘Joseph’’ Cao, a delegation of state lawmakers, and City Council Vice President Arnie Fielkow met officials from Big League Dreams earlier this month. The idea was basically an ‘‘unfunded dream,’’ Mayor Ray Nagin said on Tuesday.

In a statement released later, Fielkow said the development of the theme park would be beneficial for the city, but also warned against undue optimism.

‘‘However, it is important that the appropriate financial due diligence be performed to ensure this proposed project is viable and can be successful for the long term,’’ Fielkow said. ‘‘This due diligence is especially critical given the Six Flags bankruptcy and the history of other projects at the site.’’