Wyoming spent nearly two years and $1.8 million in public money to win back the keys to the historic Star Plunge water park in Hot Springs State Park.
Now severe electrical problems and gas leaks at the Thermopolis facility mean the state might have to spend another $1 million just to tear down the property it just bought.
“Demolition alone could cost close to a million, and then reconstruction, my best off-the-cuff estimate would be probably $3 to $5 million,” Wyoming State Parks district manager Brooks Jordan told Cowboy State Daily. “And if it’s going to cost say $2 to $4 million to renovate the facility, the question we’re looking at is, would we be better off and further ahead with a new facility?”
A new facility would mean demolishing the old structure, which would be on the state because it now owns the amenity, having bought the disputed property to settle the claims of the park’s previous owner Roland Luehne.
The answer to those questions are going to depend on meetings this week with the fire marshal and electrical inspectors, who say they have been through the building and found serious unexpected problems, including gas leaks and sagging support beams.
“We’re at the point now where we need to decide whether we want to continue to put money into this facility that is in really poor shape,” Deputy Director Nick Neylon told legislators last week. “Or do we want to just build something new? Something, you know, first class for the people of Wyoming and the people of Thermopolis. We haven’t come to that decision yet.”
Cost Belongs To New Operator
While demolition costs would fall on the state, rebuilding or renovation costs would belong to the state’s incoming concessionaire, Wyoming Hot Springs LLC.
The operator has already taken possession of the former Hellie’s TePee Pools and is set to take possession of Hot Springs Hotel on Oct. 31. Jordan said he’s already approved some minor improvements at TePee Pool.
More substantial changes are awaiting a finished contract for Star Plunge.
Cowboy State Daily reached out to Wyoming Hot Springs LLC, owned by former Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, regarding the facility’s newly discovered structural problems, but did not receive a response at the time of this article’s publication.
Jordan, however, expressed confidence the company is “up for the challenge” either way.
“They have substantial experience renovating old and worn-out hot springs facilities,” Jordan said. “We just need to determine and kind of nail down what this challenge involves.”
Jordan acknowledged that Wyoming Hot Springs LLC’s input will weigh heavily on the state’s ultimate path forward.
“They’ve already pledged to spend several million dollars on renovations,” he said. “So yes, they would be heavily involved. However, I think it would be secondary to our initial decision on whether or not the facility can continue to be used in some form.”
Jordan said the state’s original preference was for a quick repair that would allow the popular attraction to reopen immediately.
“It was honestly our hope to get a Wyoming Hot Springs team in there to take care of any health and life-safety concerns or minor repairs and renovations and open it as soon as possible,” he said. “It’s looking less likely that’s going to be the route we can take.”
The chance for a total demolition or a complicated renovation is another blow to the local tourism economy, which relies heavily on year-round “soaker” tourists attracted by the park’s famous pools.
When the facility first shut down, local short-term rental owners told Cowboy State Daily they’d seen a drop-off in traffic even though the State Bathhouse and TePee Pools remained open.
Decades Of Decay
The future of a water feature at the location is not in doubt. Jordan stressed that simply flattening the structure and leaving an empty lot isn’t an option at this time. Instead, it comes down to a business decision about how much taxpayer money should be poured into a 50-plus-year-old facility.
Star Plunge opened in 1900, predating the establishment of the hot springs as Wyoming’s first state park in 1929. Luehne’s family bought the water park as an established aquatic center in 1975, taking over a 50-year lease from the previous owner.
The family did make significant improvements. Among the first was a new roof and a vapor cave — essentially a natural steam room.
New slides were added in subsequent years, including the Super Star 500, which the family has said was not only the state’s first water slide but the third-longest water slide of its kind in the world. A tube slide was added in 1987, and a baby slide in 1989.
Guests frequently left online reviews criticizing the state of the slides, calling them bumpy and poorly maintained. Other visitors complained about exposed rust and visible deterioration throughout the aging facility.
Terraces Near Completion
Jordan has told Cowboy State Daily in previous interviews the state has been dissatisfied with the condition of amenities in the park for many years, and has questioned whether the park is living up to its full potential. That is what prompted the state to seek an operator who could revitalize all of them, including Star Plunge, TePee Pool and Spa, and the Hot Springs Hotel.
Away from the Star Plunge, progress is being made elsewhere in the state park.
A new boardwalk for the terraces are three to four weeks from completion, Jordan said. Contract negotiations for operating Hot Springs Hotel are also nearing a close.
But for the park’s famous, historic anchor, the timeline is still up in the air.
“We will definitely have something at that location in the future, and as soon as we can,” he said. “It remains to be seen whether it’s the Star Plunge in a new form or a new facility where the Star Plunge is located.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
