50-Year Owner Of Wyoming’s Famous Star Plunge Is Out, Huge Upgrades Planned

THERMOPOLIS — Hot Springs State Park is the most visited state park in Wyoming, but there are questions about whether it’s been living up to its full potential.

That question was behind a 2023 Request for Proposals that asked potential investors to dream big about the park’s future.

The park has long laid claim to being the world’s largest mineral hot springs, and draws upward of 1.2 million to 1.9 million visitors a year, according to state statistics.

But what could the park do with updated facilities that are more in keeping with modern hot springs industry trends?

It’s a fair question, but the process of getting there has left at least one business owner at the park bitter and eyeing legal options — and it has left residents of Thermopolis with lots of mixed feelings and unanswered questions about the future of the park in their own backyard.

Mixed Feelings And Hope

The mixture of feelings was captured succinctly in an off-the-cuff conversation between a couple of residents and Cowboy State Daily at the 7 Lazy S Café and Bar on Tuesday afternoon.

On the one hand, a bar patron, who asked not to be named, said that it’s very exciting to hear that millions of dollars are going to be put into improving the park.

“The park could be so much better,” he said. “The facilities there are so old. They need to be updated. Tourism’s going to just explode — if they do this right.”

But like a lot of Thermopolis residents, he didn’t want to say the quiet part out loud. He’s all too aware of the hurt feelings on the flip side of the coin.

Thermopolis resident Matt Yates, sitting nearby and overhearing the conversation, agreed that the historic Star Plunge, and the park's other amenities, could use updating. But he also feels sorry for the family that owns one of the nation’s iconic minerals springs attractions.

“I mean (Roland Luehne) and his family have owned (the Star Plunge) forever,” he said. “And they’re giving it to someone from out of state?”

The other thing he’s worried about is whether the park will remain affordable for himself and other Wyomingites. Right now, he’s paying about $20 a month to use the Teepee Pools.

“Are they going to turn it into a luxury thing?” he asked. “Will it stay affordable for the locals? And if it doesn’t, what will young people do around here for fun?”

Like many Thermopolis residents who spoke to Cowboy State Daily off the record about their concerns, Yates is glad the state is willing to make a significant investment into improving Hot Springs State Park.

But he’s also aware the devil is always in the details.

Hard Feelings

Roland Luehne, whose family has owned the Star Plunge attraction at Hot Springs State Park since 1975, told Cowboy State Daily on Friday he is considering legal options when it comes to the state’s recent decision, which will ultimately award ownership of his family business to Wyoming LLC, an out-of-state company headed up by Mark Begich, former Anchorage mayor and U.S. senator for Alaska.

Opened in 1900, Star Plunge predates the establishment of the hot springs as Wyoming’s first state park in 1929. And Luehne’s family has operated it for about 40% of that history.

The main thing Luehne said he wants at this point is just compensation for the value of his building, not to mention the $1.37 million or so in improvements the state required him to do over the last few years as the parties tried and failed to reach a deal for a long-term lease.

“What I think is just compensation is the replacement value of my facility,” he said. “They’re giving my facility to someone else, so I just want the replacement value of that and damages. That’s all I’m asking for, and that’s very minimal to what they’re going to be spending.”

Leuhne said the damages he is seeking are emotional, for the pain and suffering the back and forth with the state has caused him.

“I can’t just let my family’s legacy go for nothing,” he said. “I have to fight. I mean to me, this has ruined my life and everything we’ve done. The numbers that we have had, the things that we’ve done for this pool — I mean we love this facility, and why would you want to, I don’t understand why the state is pushing a local business owner out of a facility that he’s only made better.”

Facilities Are At The End Of Their Life

Brooks Jordan, regional director for Wyoming State Parks, told Cowboy State Daily he feels the state made a good faith effort over several years to come to terms with Luehne and sign a long-term lease, but just couldn’t reach terms that satisfied both parties.

A portion of Luehne’s lease requires him to hand over the Star Plunge facilities at the conclusion of the contract, so the state’s position is that no compensation is owed for the facility.

“I think we had been in negotiations since 2020,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “And we were required to issue an RFP for any long-term concession agreement in excess of five years. We can do short-term agreements for up to five years, but for those greater than five years, we have to use an RFP.”

Jordan said the main issues the state wanted to address with its latest RFP weren’t just focused on the Star Plunge. There are competing operations at the park, inconsistent operations by some of the concessionaires, and deteriorating physical conditions at all of the park facilities, which are decades old.

“These facilities have just reached their lifespan in terms of how they’re being maintained and the condition that they’re in now,” he said. “And Thermopolis is an important part of tourism and outdoor recreation across the state and the region. We hope to not only bolster that but improve the contribution of our facilities toward tourism and outdoor recreation.”

Modern Trends Mean Opportunity Could Be Huge

Hot Springs State Park has been drawing Europeans to its healing waters since it was discovered, and it was drawing Native Americans for even longer than that.

At the turn of the 20th century, when Thermopolis first formed, there was a mini economic boom that swirled around the hot springs. That brought several hotels — many of them long since demolished — to the area.

Hot springs resorts seemed to fall out of favor for a few decades after that, but there’s been a recent resurgence in water-based wellness, and resorts across the United States have been dressing up, vying to keep domestic tourists at home instead of sending them to Japan or New Zealand.

The U.S. has more than 1,600 hot springs sites, based on statistics kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, many of which have long been flying under the radar.

The Hot Springs Association reports record-breaking visitation from 2017 to 2019 at the 70-some hot springs owners and operators that are among its members. Although the top was knocked off that during the COVID-19 pandemic, visitation numbers are now ticking back up. The association is predicting 18% annual growth for the sector through at least 2025.

That means Thermopolis, with the world’s largest mineral hot springs in its backyard, could be holding a hand full of tourism aces, with the right amenities in play.

An Ambitious Plan

The sweeping scope of change contemplated at Hot Springs State Park is much bigger than any one amenity. The master plan the state put together in 2016, which guided the recent RFP process, is at heart a complete re-imagination of the park.

About $25 million worth of the improvements would be on the state’s dime, while the rest would come from the newly chosen partner, Wyoming LLC.

Jordan said Wyoming LLC was chosen because it “checked all the boxes” that the state was looking for with its vision for the park.

“They also brought a tremendous amount of experience and understanding in their proposal,” Jordan said. “And they were able to represent that and address all of the things we were looking for.”

Some of the specifics on what, exactly, Wyoming LLC is going to do are awaiting contract negotiations for a long-term lease, Jordan said.

But the master plan that guided selection of Wyoming LLC lays out a truly ambitious scope.

Under that document, there would be a lodging zone, an aquatic zone and a green zone at the core of the park. The lodging zone in particular would re-establish the park’s historic park entrance, with hotels lining the way.

The Plaza Hotel, which is under a lease with Peak Hospitality until 2043, would remain where it is, anchoring the north side, while Hot Springs Hotel would be taken over by Wyoming LLC when its management contract expires in 2026, and reoriented to face the Bighorn River.

Wyoming LLC’s proposal to the state mentions a complete rebuild of the Hot Springs hotel to include a larger outdoor pool and a riverfront sitting area.

Other items that could be negotiated include venues like a drive-in theater, a brewpub, glamping facilities, and management of the state’s bathhouse.

Wyoming LLC’s proposal envisioned completely reconstructing the Teepee Pools, creating an adult-oriented spa and wellness center. For the Star Plunge, the company would preserve its “mid-century” historic theme, adding a poolside diner and kid-friendly water features like slides and swimming pools.

A chart in the master plan shows the following additions for Hot Springs State Park:

• One new natural soaking pool
• 44 more hotel rooms or cabins
• 2 acres for public camping and 7,500 more square feet for seasonal employee camping
• More picnic shelter space
• Re-establishment of the historic garden
• 7,500-square-foot visitor center with space for the chamber of commerce
• 20,000-square-foot Discovery Center
• 50,000-square-foot children’s Nature Center
• Expanded wayfinding signage
• Four more park entrances for a total of five
• 13 orientation kiosks for trailheads
• Two new bridge overlooks
• 9 acres of naturalized landscaping along the river’s edge
• Two more canoe/kayak access points
• 8 pedestrian overlooks
• 14 archery targets and a nine- to 18-hole disc golf course
• Various road improvements
• About 330 more parking spaces in various places
• A pedestrian bridge over the railroad
• Doubling the park headquarters to 7,000 square feet
• Increasing the greenhouse to 3,000 square feet from 450 square feet

Diminishing Resources

One specific area of concern that Jordan did address is the idea that the Star Plunge might become a cold-water facility.

“There are no plans to convert the Star Plunge facility to freshwater,” he said. “However, we would consider the use of freshwater in certain applications if it made sense (water slides or a purely recreational use rather than therapeutic application). But again, there are no plans for such.”

Over time, however, Jordan also said the mineral flow at the hot spring is has been decreasing.

“The mineral flow has rebounded some in the past few years,” he said. “But it is down overall from the flows of five, 10 and 20 years ago.”

That’s something Jordan said the state needs to study in more detail to better understand what may be happening to the spring, and whether there’s anything that can be done to restore the flow.

“Mineral water and other natural resources are delicate in nature and unpredictable and potentially even finite,” he said. “So, I think there’s always been some concern, or at least caution from our perspective and others, that something could happen to the mineral water.”

That likely means conservation measures are going to be part of Hot Springs Park’s future, to ensure their efficient use.

The master plan prioritizes the thermal waters for the terraces first, followed by the free public use that’s required by treaty. Last in line are the types of recreational uses at the park that would be managed by concessionaires.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.