Weeki Wachee Springs' fight with Swiftmud has some wondering whether the attraction will be able to remain open for long.
By ROBERT KING
Published April 4, 2004
WEEKI WACHEE - For some time now, Weeki Wachee Springs has been facing a question that aging movie stars get once their fame has faded and they have advanced in years.
Aren't you dead yet?
Still, people from places as far away as England learn each day that the park, famous around the world for its underwater mermaid shows, is alive and kicking.
But lately, the fabled attraction has been facing a new question from its local customer base, a group that may be an even more important part of its market than the tourists.
And the question is this: Does it make sense to buy a Weeki Wachee Springs season pass when it isn't clear whether Weeki Wachee Springs will finish the season?
The attraction has sold approximately 1,000 fewer season passes this spring than it did last year, according to Weeki Wachee Springs' marketing manager, John Athanason. This from a park that sells 8,000 to 10,000 season passes in a given year.
What's more, Athanason said doubts about the park's future have begun to affect Weeki Wachee Springs' corporate sales efforts - package deals for groups or businesses that in the past have had their company picnics at the park.
Susan Hatfield, vice president of the Mothers Club of Hernando County, read about Weeki Wachee Springs' latest legal troubles in Wednesday's newspaper and began to worry about a May 22 festival her group has been planning at the attraction.
In a similar spot, the committee that plans the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce's Fourth of July celebration, held at the attraction the past two years, met Thursday to talk about this year's event. One of the questions Athanason heard was, "Will the attraction be open?"
The answer?
"We tell people that we are very optimistic that we will remain open," Athanason said. "I can't predict what the future holds for Weeki Wachee. But we remain confident the park is going to remain open."
To potential season pass buyers, Athanason tells them he understands their hesitation. But he also points out that season passes, which sell to adults for either $39.95 or $44.95, pay for themselves by the third visit. The higher-priced pass also earns free admission to other tourist attractions in the area.
As far as the pace of the legal proceedings that hold Weeki Wachee Springs' future in the balance, attorneys say it could take anywhere from two to four months before the dispute is decided in court. In the meantime, the park will remain open.
The issue at hand is the park's lease to operate on the 27 acres around the spring.
The land is owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which contends the park has violated the lease in several ways - from dredging sand from the river near the spring in February to having its ownership transferred illegally to the city of Weeki Wachee.
While those issues have been simmering since last summer, they boiled over Wednesday when both the water district and the attraction filed complaints in court seeking a judgment to settle their differences.
As dicey as the situation is, both sides say there is long-term hope for the park's survival.
Weeki Wachee Springs attorney Joe Mason isn't convinced that the litigation - even if it goes badly for the attraction - would result in the park's closure.
If the judge rules it is illegal for the city to continue its ownership of the private company that runs the park, Weeki Wachee Springs LLC, the city could dissolve the corporation and make it a department of the city. Or, the city could sell the company to someone else who could keep the park open.
Meanwhile Swiftmud, as the water district is known, has said that should it reach the point of terminating the lease held by Weeki Wachee Springs LLC, it would most likely go out and seek a new manager rather than shutter the park.
"The district doesn't want to do away with mermaids," Swiftmud attorney Bill Bilenky said last week. "We're not antimermaid. If there is a Plan B, we want somebody to keep the facility open. We're not of the mind to close it up and keep it hands-off."
After reassurances from the park, the chamber of commerce's planning committee is going ahead with plans for its Fourth of July celebration at Weeki Wachee Springs, said Jacqueline Morris, executive director of the chamber. As the chamber does with most of its events, there will be an alternative plan just in case, Morris said.
The Mothers Club also plans to stick to its May 22 date.
As for selling season passes, Athanason is hopeful the sight of children playing in the water at Buccaneer Bay will remind the driving public on U.S. 19 that the water park is open once again. During the next two weeks, Pasco and Hernando county schoolchildren will be out of school for spring break and, Athanason hopes, visiting Buccaneer Bay.
Alicia Devanna, who lives in Spring Hill, visited the park Friday with friends from Michigan. She had heard about the park's legal troubles, but she showed up anyway.
"As far as I know, they're not closing," Devanna said, "or they wouldn't be selling season passes."
Some people, such as English visitors Karl and Kathryn Turner, were oblivious to the park's legal struggles when they visited Friday.
Anita Pfefferkorn, vacationing from New Jersey with her three children, also was oblivious to the local turmoil surrounding the park. After last visiting the mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs in 1978, she was glad to see the show still goes on.
"We enjoyed it," she said. "It was very nice."
- Robert King can be reached at 352 848-1432 or at rking@sptimes.com
