The legal limbo that’s been keeping the Star Plunge closed is having a negative effect on tourism in Hot Springs County, a member of the Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism Board said.
Audra Dominguez, owner of Audra’s Copper Coo in Thermopolis, and a member of the Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism Board, told Cowboy State Daily that numbers for lodging taxes are down about $4,000 year over year, according to March’s report.
The Star Plunge abruptly closed Jan. 14, and those figures reflect February lodgings, Dominguez said, the first full month of the Star Plunge’s closure. That isn’t the only data point Dominguez is seeing, though, that suggests to her Therompolis tourism has taken a hit this winter because of the Star Plunge’s closure.
Her friends who own small boutique hotels, as well as her sister, Stepheny Butcher, who owns a vacation rental called ThermoVista, are all reporting canceled bookings over the Star Plunge closure.
Butcher’s rental, in particular, has taken a significant hit.
“Probably 80% of her rentals throughout the summer are large groups of Amish folks coming, because she’s got a large home,” Dominguez said. “And even the Amish are hearing that (Star Plunge) is closed.
“Soaking in the hot springs is a big draw for the Amish, and she’s had some of them actually cancel their reservations because they enjoyed going to the Star Plunge.”
Dominguez fears that what the March figures show do not bode well for the upcoming summertourism season, with a popular attraction to Thermopolis still hanging in legal limbo.
“It’s not that tourism has stopped,” Dominguez added. “There are still people coming through. So, we can’t say that the town is dead now. But it has absolutely affected some numbers.”
An Ongoing Dispute, And A Lawsuit
Star Plunge shut down in mid-January, after a dispute between the state and its operator, Roland Luehne, who has told Cowboy State Daily he feels he is being unfairly pushed out of an attraction his family has run for three generations.
Wyoming had selected a new operator for the park, Wyoming Hot Springs LLC, after sending out a request for proposals that asked potential investors to dream big about the future for Hot Springs State Park.
The park is one of the state’s most popular, drawing between 1.2 to 1.9 million visitors a year, according to state statistics, and state officials have said previously they believe the park could be a much bigger draw, if it had the right updates.
The selection of Wyoming Hot Springs as the new operator for all the park’s attractions meant Luehne was out, and Wyoming Hot Springs LLC was in.
Luehne has been raising questions about the fairness of the process, and said the state isn’t offering just compensation for the attraction, which he and his family have built and maintained over the last 50 years.
Luehne said he had recently put $3 million into upgrades that the state had wanted at the facility. He was seeking to sell the facility to Wyoming Hot Springs for that amount, to recoup the investment he made that he cannot now recoup.
After negotiations to sell the attraction to Wyoming Hot Springs LLC fell through, Wyoming State Parks announced it would close the facility on Dec. 31, saying it could no longer operate on extensions, without an actual contract in place.
The state ultimately did grant a two-week extension, however, to give negotiations more time. But after that, Big Horn District Manager Brooks Jordan told Cowboy State Daily then that no more extensions would be granted while a court case is ongoing.
Concerns About Capacity For Visitors To The Hot Springs
Jordan told Cowboy State Daily the state has expanded the hours at the State Bath House and has been working with Hellie’s Tepee Pools’ new management to ensure future visitor capacity can be met.
“We’re also undertaking a marketing and advertising program to help get the word out that the park is ‘still open,’ and offers plenty of recreational opportunities,” he said.
But those things don’t sound like enough to Hot Springs County Commissioner Paul Galovich, who believes the community’s tourism is going to take a major hit this summer, if the legal impasse continues.
“Regardless of which side of the coin you are, whether you support the state’s long-term plans or whether you support Roland and his private property, ownership of the pool, and things of that nature, it really doesn’t in my mind make much sense to keep the pool closed,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “They’ve got to keep it all going anyway. And they’ve basically been operating on a handshake deal since 2008 — 17 years, or something like that.”
Galovich said he understood the need for a contract — something he feels should have been taken care of a long time ago — but he doesn’t see any benefit from keeping the Star Plunge closed. Galovich added that he was recently at Hellie’s Tepee Pools, one of the other hot springs attractions at the park, and it was the busiest he’s ever seen it.
“That’s OK, but it’s definitely getting the overflow effects from the Star Plunge being down,” he said. “And over the summer there’s going to be other things happening in the park that concern me. They’re going to do a bunch of road work and they’re doing bridge work as well. So what impact is that going to have on tourism?”
Hot Springs County also has events coming up during the summer that Galovich believes will bring lots and lots of people to town, and he questions whether the Tepee Pools and the state’s Bath House will really have enough capacity to otherwise handle that.
“Why would we not have an extra pool open to accommodate all those people who are coming?” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Thermpolis Needs To Diversify Its Tourism
Not everyone, however, believes that tourism will take a big hit this summer.
Among them is City Council Member Dusty Lewis, who runs a business called Rent Adventure, which offers both outdoor equipment for rent, as well as instruction to take advantage of all the outdoor adventures Thermopolis has to offer.
“I’m sure it doesn’t help,” Lewis said. “But I haven’t necessarily heard of people who are canceling their plans just because of that and I’m still pretty optimistic that tourism will go on.”
Lewis said one of the biggest drivers that puts tourists in Thermopolis is its position along the way to Yellowstone National Park.
“If we have things for them to do, that’s what keeps them around Thermopolis,” he said.
He also believes the park needs improvements to keep attracting people.
“I”m a firm believer that you’re growing or you’re dying,” he said. “And I’ve seen Thermopolis lose population. If someone doesn’t put in the work to improve facilities and make more improved experiences, then we will continue to die. So I’m excited for some change, whether it’s internal or external.”
Lewis also believes the town has to diversify the ways in which it brings people to town, rather than just relying on the state park to do all the heavy lifting.
“I think we need to have more of a reason to get people here, outside of just a soak or to fish,” he said.
That diversification is something that has been on Dominguez’s mind, she told Cowboy State Daily.
“That’s one of the reasons why, with Wyoming Discovery Days, we’re bringing in Chase Rice for a really big concert,” she said. “We’re hoping to bring in several thousand people for the concert, which is on a weekend when there’s nothing else going on, and our hope is to fill all of the hotels and all of the campgrounds and vacation rentals and restaurants.”
Rice is a country music star with more than 2.6 million albums sold and over 2.8 billion totalstreams. His hits include platinum certified No. 1 hit, “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen,” and Platinum-certified Top 10 hit, “Lonely if You Are.”
“He’s very big in the country scene, and we’re excited to have him,” Dominguez said. “Discovery Days always has music all weekend, but this is on another level.”
The appearance will cost $60,000, Dominguez said. Fundraisers and sponsorships are an ongoing effort right now to raise the funds for the event.
The event has already begun to attract some bookings, Dominguez said, with tickets coming from all over — Utah, Idaho, Montana and beyond.
“It’s going to be very costly,” she said. “But we’ll continue doing it even after the Star Plunge gets worked out, because we do want to bring fresh new things to Thermopolis. But I think it’s very timely this year.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
