Weeki Wachee Springs is drawing national attention, but it could all be for naught as Swiftmud's 60-day period for repairs passes with much left undone.
By ROBERT KING
Published August 13, 2003
WEEKI WACHEE - If the tourist attraction at Weeki Wachee Springs goes out of business any time soon, it won't be because fans of the park's mermaid shows weren't given fair warning.
Weeki Wachee's mermaids were splashed across the front page of the New York Times on Tuesday, as the newspaper reported on the attraction's waning popularity in the era of Disney and efforts to revive its former glory.
NBC Nightly News echoed the theme with a two-minute segment Tuesday evening on what anchor Brian Williams described as "America's Mermaid Crisis." And if all that wasn't enough, former mermaid and Weeki Wachee city Mayor Robyn Anderson was to appear this morning on NBC's Today show. She also fielded a call Tuesday from People magazine, which wants to do its own story on the mermaids.
Yet, as Anderson and Weeki Wachee basked in the glow of free publicity that the park could never afford to buy, a deadline came and went Tuesday that could bode ill for the park's future.
Two months ago, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which has owned the famous spring and 440 acres surrounding it since 1999, gave Weeki Wachee 60 days to repair dilapidated buildings and other infrastructure problems or risk losing its lease on the property - putting the park out of business.
Weeki Wachee has made some progress in addressing those problems. But it was nowhere close Tuesday to meeting all of the demands. Exactly what that means for Weeki Wachee's future wasn't clear Tuesday.
"It clearly looks like it's going to be in default of the lease," said Michael Molligan, a spokesman for Swiftmud, as the water district is known. "What we do about that is yet to be determined."
Molligan said the district's staffers will inspect the park in the coming days and review Weeki Wachee's plans to address unmet demands. Then they will issue a recommendation to the water district's governing board. All that could take weeks.
"Ultimately we have to do what's best for the water resources. We purchased this property because we have a spring of the first magnitude there. It's important for the river. It's important for the wetlands," Molligan said.
"We're reviewing all our options. We're not ruling anything out right now."
Among the biggest issues for Swiftmud was concern about inadequacies in how the park treats its own sewage - an important matter given the proximity to the freshwater spring.
Swiftmud demanded that Weeki Wachee hook up with Hernando County's sewer system. But that hasn't been done. Anderson, who is manager of the tourist attraction as well as Weeki Wachee's mayor, said the park needs another $100,000 to do the job and time to rip up some of the underlying infrastructure.
Also at issue were park structures like the Mermaid Galley Restaurant and an animal show grandstand that had been deemed unsafe due to rot and termite damage. The restaurant has largely been fixed; work on the grandstand is continuing.
"This is not going to be (done) overnight," Anderson said. "This is like 20 years of damage."
Despite the park's problems, Anderson feels that Weeki Wachee is poised for a revival.
The owners of Weeki Wachee LLC, the latest in a string of companies to hold the park's lease, agreed recently to donate their company to the city of Weeki Wachee. Now, Anderson says, profits that were once diverted to mostly out-of-state shareholders will be pumped back into the park. "It's going to be very helpful," she said.
However, Swiftmud isn't even sure yet whether it is willing to allow the transfer of the lease to the city's control and agree to Anderson's improvement ideas. The transfer will be reviewed in the coming days too, Molligan said.
In the meantime, Anderson is hopeful that the media attention - which includes recent articles in the London Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution - will rally support for Weeki Wachee and persuade Swiftmud to give her a chance to help it thrive again.
She says the closing in April of Cypress Gardens was a reality check for fans of Weeki Wachee and for those who appreciate the Florida roadside attractions that predate Walt Disney World.
"We were here before the Mouse and we intend to stay," Anderson said.
- Robert King covers Spring Hill and can be reached at 848-1432. Send e-mail to rking@sptimes.com
