The Star Plunge attraction in Hot Springs State Park could already be open for the summer tourism season. Instead, it’s caught up in an emotional tug-of-war between strong personalities over a venue that many see as vital to Hot Springs County’s economy.
Star Plunge closed in January after the contract of the original owner, Roland Luehne, expired.
Luehne filed a lawsuit not long after that when negotiations to sell his attraction to Hot Springs LLC, the new vendor that the state has selected to manage amenities in the park, fell through.
That’s left the Star Plunge shuttered and in limbo as the summer tourism season has begun. Lodging statistics for Hot Springs County show much lower numbers than usual since the closure of the attraction, even though Star Plunge isn’t the only hot springs amenity in the park.
State Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that he and Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, both tried to broker a deal last month that would likely have already had the Star Plunge open for the summer.
“I got ahold of Mike because he’s done a lot of concession work, and just trying to find a (way) that we could potentially get that open, regardless of what is going on,” Driskill said. “And it’s just tough. We failed on it. There’s seemingly very little wiggle room.”
Third-Party Operator
The deal Driskill and Gierau brought to the table was to hire a third-party vendor, acceptable to the state, to run the Star Plunge attraction and pay rent to Luehne for use of the facility and its equipment.
Hot Springs LLC had already expressed interest in doing that, Wyoming State Parks Deputy Director Nick Neylon told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. If Luehne had agreed to hire that vendor for the job, Neylon said the attraction could likely have already opened for the summer.
Luehne did not respond to an inquiry from Cowboy State Daily asking about the offer by Hot Springs LLC to operate the Star Plunge. In an earlier interview, he confirmed that he is pursuing the idea of hiring a third-party vendor to operate the facility.
“It’s hard to take it,” Luehne said. “I know the state does not want me here. But we’ll find that group to come in here and to run it.”
Luehne said he has sent out a number of inquiries and is working to identify a third-party group to manage the venue, which has multiple indoor and outdoor pools, for him, which he believes will help not only himself, but also the community.
“When this management team does come in, we hope that they’ll hire the 15 employees who were laid off in January when we closed,” Luehne said. “We hope that they will hire them first. And it would make sense that they hire them first, because they know how to run the facility right.”
Luehne has long contended the attraction’s closure is having a direct, negative effect on tourism in Hot Springs County and points to lodging statistics, which are down substantially year over year.
“I know that we’ve been turning people away, I’m going to say hundreds a day,” he said. “Hundreds of cars have come up. They pull up into the parking lot. They see it (closed) and they leave.”
Luehne has heard some of the people in those cars say that if Star Plunge is closed, they prefer to just continue their journey, because that was the main reason they were stopping in Thermopolis.
State Has To Approve Any Third Parties
Neylon told Cowboy State Daily in a followup interview that Luehne would be allowed to hire a different third-party vendor than Hot Springs LLC, but that Wyoming State Parks would still have final approval.
“(Hot Springs LLC) is the easiest, fastest path,” Neylon said. “And an agreement probably would have already been in place by now, with the pool already open. And we’re not asking Roland to do this for free. He would be compensated for the use of his equipment and facilities.”
Driskill said that’s the solution he preferred because it’s practical. It would give the state insight into Hot Springs LLC as well as valuable experience to the new vendor the state has chosen to run the attraction.
“I think it makes very much sense,” Driskill said. “And my belief is he ought to be giving virtually all the money back to Roland on the thing that he’s got the investment in. The state doesn’t take much.”
Park Isn’t Closed
Neylon said Wyoming State Parks realizes that Hot Springs State Park is an important part of the county’s economy, though he disputed the idea that Star Plunge alone is responsible for depressed lodging statistics.
He believes it is more the misperception that the entire Park is closed, which he believes has been caused by Luehne’s messaging.
“It’s certainly not only the fact that the Star Plunge is closed, because the rest of the park remains open,” Neylon said. “Certainly, things are down in Hot Springs County and in Thermopolis right now. But I think there are probably a lot of factors at play there.”
Neylon said Wyoming State Parks has been doing extra advertising to highlight the point that the park itself, and all of its other attractions, are still open and that the area has a lot to offer.
“We’ve dramatically increased our social media presence to try to let people know the park remains open,” he said. “There’s all these other great things to do there.”
Neylon has also talked with the Office of Tourism to enlist its help in getting the word out that Thermopolis is still a great destination, regardless of whether Star Plunge is open.
“The last thing we want to do is have any kind of negative impact on the local economy there in Thermopolis, Hot Springs County,” he said. “We realize that this park is an important part of that economy, so we’re trying to find ways to help the community.
“And so, the ball is in Mr. Luehne’s court at the moment, and has been for almost a month.”
Lodging Numbers Remain Down
Neylon isn’t the only one touting the idea that Thermopolis has a lot of cool things other than Star Plunge for visitors to enjoy during the summer.
Groups in Thermopolis and Hot Springs County have also been rallying to save the summer tourism season by beefing up existing events, thinking up new activities and promoting other attractions in the area.
That has included finding some big-name stars for concerts at the annual Discovery Days in Thermopolis, like Lorrie Morgan and Chase Rice.
It also means holding extra vendor sales, bringing back a popular street dance and touting outdoor adventures like hiking, biking and horseback riding, the scenic Wind River Canyon, the world-class Wyoming Dinosaur Center and more.
The message, however, doesn’t seem to be getting through, said Dale Clark, who has been keeping tabs on Airbnb numbers in Thermopolis.
What he’s seeing in those numbers is a big empty when it comes to July and August — usually two of his most popular months, booked well in advance of summer.
“My views are 54 higher than similar listings in this market,” he said. “I outperform the market substantially. And I’m proud to say that, but even I am having a hard time getting bookings for the summer.
“My July is horrible. We’re down 50% in that month. And in August, we have a whopping, I think, seven days now in August.”
This is not usual.
By now, he’s usually looking at mostly full months for both July and August, and he’s had a lot more views looking at what little remains.
It’s not just his place, either. Clark has been looking at bookings for other Airbnbs in the area and has noted that they are just as empty as his own.
“All you have to do is go in and put in some dates and it will bring up listings, and then you click on a listing, go to the dates, and clear them,” he said. “And then it will show you the calendar for that particular listing and you can see how it is booked. And if you take a look at that, people are suffering.”
Star Plunge Drives Plunge
The numbers suggest to Clark that, like it or not, the Star Plunge closure is having an outsized effect on what has been a strong season for him three years running, since starting his Airbnb in 2022.
“Most of my guests are interested in the pools in the summer,” he said. “That’s really why they are coming. And we try to throw other things at them, so that they will stay longer or have a better experience. But, like it or not, the Star Plunge is equivalent to the Hot Springs. Families are not coming here for the Bath House. They’re coming to go hang out at the pools.”
With Star Plunge closed, that leaves only Hellie’s Tepee Pools and Spa to fill that visitor demand, Clark said, and so far it’s not pulling guests in.
“The Tepee wasn’t run very well for years,” Clark said. “And I do think the new owners are trying to do some good things there.”
Eventually, those changes may make a difference, Clark said. In the meantime, he’s focused on what’s happening now rather than the back-and-forth volley of who did what when, and who is right and who is wrong.
“I get messages from people saying, ‘Well, Hot springs are closed.’ That’s the perception,” he said, adding that the additional advertising the state has so far done hasn’t made a difference. “This is hurting everyone that has a business that relies on tourism dollars. This has impacted our tourism, and they need to solve it.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
