One Year Later, Star Plunge Hot Springs Still Closed As Legal Stalemate Continues

Almost a year after the doors were shut to the Star Plunge geothermal water park in Wyoming’s popular Hot Springs State Park, the two parties embroiled in a legal fight over who will operate it are still blaming each other for the impasse.

Owner Roland Luehne told Cowboy State Daily in a text message there’s no reason for the Star Plunge to remain closed while the court case challenging the state’s bidding process plays out.

District Manager of Wyoming State Parks Brooks Jordan says the state has extended every possible offer to reopen the facility during the litigation, including allowing a third party to operate the Star Plunge for Luehne.

Discussions about a third-party operator seem to have broken down in October, with two parties involved in that negotiation saying emails were not returned.

Prior to that, two of Wyoming’s state senators attempted to broker a deal to reopen the Star Plunge, but also failed.

Meanwhile, a hearing had been set in Laramie County District Court in one of the two cases Luehne has filed claiming that he was treated unfairly and that the state isn’t following its own laws.

The hearing was to consider a motion filed by the state that asks the judge to either vacate or narrow a previous order prohibiting the state from implementing any contracts with Wyoming Hot Springs LLC while the court case plays out. One of the cases, is still set for trial in October, in any case.

Wyoming Hot Springs LLC is the vendor the state chose last year to run all of its amenities at Hot Springs State Park. 

The company has an ambitious improvement plan for the park's amenities as well, including Star Plunge, Hellie’s TePee Pools, and the Hot Springs State Park Bath House.

“The current stay is preventing not only the development of the Star Plunge property, but development in the rest of the park,” the state’s motion reads.

Narrowing the injunction would allow improvements in other areas of the park to proceed. 

Not allowing that is a “significant infringement on the Department’s rights that exceed what is necessary to protect C & W’s interests, absent evidence or a court finding that C & W (Enterprises) is likely to succeed on the merits,” the motion says.

Luehne's attorneys, meanwhile, contend in their response that changes to the park would alter the status quo in ways that could make it difficult for C & W Enterprises to obtain meaningful relief.

Two Avenues To Reopen

There now are two avenues that would allow the Star Plunge to open prior to the resolution of the ongoing court case, Jordan said. 

One is the sale of the Star Plunge facility to Wyoming Hot Springs LLC. The other is an agreement to allow a third-party to operate Star Plunge for Luehne while litigation over the state’s bidding process continues.

Wyoming Hot Springs LLC is not a direct party to the case but has been discussing both options with Luehne, Jordan said.

“I don’t know of any face-to-face meetings,” Jordan said. "It’s my understanding that those discussions have kind of broken off.”

A new judge has meanwhile been assigned to handle the Star Plunge case.

“I could only speculate as to why there was a change of judge, but from what I’ve heard, it has to do with the timeframe,” he said. “So, I think it was an effort to expedite rulings and overall court case decisions.”

Economic Impact

Jordan said his office has been working with the Wyoming Office of Tourism and the local lodging tax board to stay on top of how the Star Plunge closure is affecting the business scene.

“Just knowing that the Star Plunge closure would have at least some effect on the community, State Parks has executed a pretty large campaign, marketing and promotion campaign for the park, and for the aquatic facilities that are open and available there,” he said. 

"We spent somewhere around $10,000 on marketing efforts, both in social media and online advertising,” Jordan added.

Luehne contends that the economic impact is severe and ongoing.

“Each year, approximately 50,000 swimmers will no longer come to our community,” he said. “These visitors are not just numbers — they are customers who fill our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores, fuel their vehicles, camp in our parks, and support local services.”

Luehne estimated that each visitor spends an average of $185, which he said is a $9.25 million loss to the Thermopolis economy. 

“For a small town like Thermopolis, this loss is catastrophic,” he said.

Jordan said he doesn’t believe tourism numbers show that significant of a drop in visitation.

“The data I have from the Wyoming Office of Tourism and Department of Revenue shows that Hot Springs County lodging taxes are only down 0.8% year to date (through October) from 2024,” Jordan said. “In addition, local tourism related taxes are only down 1.8% year to date (again through October) from 2024.

"It’s impossible to know how much, if at all, the Star Plunge has affected these numbers.”

The drop “Is in line with other parts of the state,” Jordan added.

Three months after Star Plunge closed, year-over-year statistics showed lodging taxes were down $4,000 for the period, according to a report in March. Those figures reflected February closings, the first full month after the Star Plunge’s closure.

Just The Middleman  

Communication lines are still open between Luehne and Wyoming Hot Springs LLC, which is owned by Mark Begich, a former U.S. Senator for Alaska who also owns hot springs in a couple of other states.

Begich, however, is not a party to the suit between Luehne and Wyoming State Parks. 

Even so, he has been trying to work out either an agreement to operate the Star Plunge for Luehne so it can open, or to buy the Star Plunge so that Wyoming Hot Springs LLC can proceed with all of its projects at Hot Springs State Park.

Those discussions appear to be at an impasse, with each side claiming to have unanswered emails from October related to one or both of those topics. 

Keith Shellhamer is Begich’s manager, who told Cowboy State Daily Wyoming Hot Springs LLC is really just the guy caught in the middle, and that the discussions between them and Luehne's company, C & W Enterprises, are just “our good faith effort” to “get rolling.”

“We’re eager to get started,” he said. “The only thing holding us back is litigation between the state and the Star Plunge. So, we have made some offers. There’s been a couple of increasing offers to resolve it, as far as, I guess, voluntarily resolve it. And those have not, our offers have not been acceptable to the Star.”

Shellhamer characterized the offers as generous and said it’s not a matter of Wyoming Hot Springs LLC in any way “dragging” its feet. 

“I mean, even if we wanted to, we could not drop the lawsuit that’s holding up the Star Plunge (from) moving forward,” he said. “But Roland would, apparently, if he got the buyout number he’s looking for, from what I understand.

"I think we’ve made really good faith attempts, and so far, we haven’t come to an agreement. So, the litigation is ongoing.”

Lost In The Spam Folder?

As far as the offer to have a third-party operate Star Plunge, Luehne told Cowboy State Daily via text message that the state has made it clear the only third-party operator that it will accept is Wyoming Hot Springs LLC. 

“No other qualified manager or organization has been allowed to step forward,” he said. “This condition alone effectively blocks any real path to reopening.”

In spite of that, Luehne said he offered Begich the opportunity to manage the Star Plunge more than three months ago. 

"Since that time, he has failed to respond — not to negotiate terms, not to request clarification, and not even to acknowledge a proposed management agreement,” Luehne said by text. "His silence has stalled progress while employees, businesses and the community suffer.”

Shellhamer, meanwhile, said it is Luehne’s camp that hasn’t responded.

“In October, when we requested from the Star what terms they were looking for, we have not received a reply back yet,” he said. “I’m looking at my emails. There’s no further emails after that. 

"I know Mark said, ‘Hey, present me some terms and we’ll consider it,' but we haven’t been presented any terms yet.”

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