Luehnes’ last splash? Thermopolis’ Star Plunge nears closure deadline

UPDATE: Wyoming State Parks announced Tuesday the Star Plunge has closed to the public and will remain closed until a sale is finalized or ongoing litigation is resolved. -Ed.

HOT SPRINGS STATE PARK—Emerging from the locker rooms, Scott Forke felt better, like he always does after a session in the Star Plunge’s Vapor Cave, Lobster Pot and heated mineral waters. 

“I love it,” he said. “For me, it’s therapeutic.”

Forke lives in Cody, but drives to Thermopolis once or twice a month to spend time in the Star Plunge’s waters, which contain minerals like calcium carbonate, magnesium, potassium and silica. He’s been visiting the facility for 40 years and buys an annual membership. 

He’s not sure what he’ll do if the facility closes to the public, which could happen Tuesday unless a sale agreement is reached or litigation surrounding its management is resolved. The facility’s future has been in dispute since last spring, when Wyoming State Parks elected a new operator to take over from the Luehne family after 50 years — a decision the family is fighting. 

But Forke knows how he feels about the closure. 

“It’s like the loss of an old friend,” he said. “I think it’s really sad that the state has stepped on the community and forced this onto locals.”

If the Star Plunge goes offline, there remain options for visiting the park’s heated waters. The state-run bathhouse offers free soaking, and the Tepee Pools adjacent to the Star Plunge contain a similar inventory of pools and slides. But neither has the Vapor Cave that Forke finds so salutary. He likes the vibe of the Star Plunge, he said, and doesn’t want to see it turned into a “Wally World” by an outside group.

“On the other side of the coin,” he said, “things don’t stay the same forever.”

The Luehne family has been operating the Star Plunge in Thermopolis’ Hot Springs State Park since 1975, when Wolfgang and Christine Luehne bought it and took over a 50-year concessionaire lease. Roland Luehne, their son, bought it from them in 2012. 

But the family’s relationship with the state has soured. A battle over the management of the facility has been unfolding since last spring, when Wyoming State Parks announced it had selected Wyoming Hot Springs LLC as the next leaseé through its request-for-proposal process. Wyoming Hot Springs LLC’s primary representative, Mark Begich, is a former U.S. senator from Alaska and the company operates hot springs resorts in Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming.

The new operator was scheduled to take over at the end of 2024 when Roland Luehne’s current management agreement expired. 

But Luehne’s company, C&W Enterprises, sued the state over the summer, accusing the Wyoming Department of State Parks of exceeding its authority and violating regulations. That initiated a flurry of legal filings over the fall in a pair of cases that have yet to be resolved. 

Outside of the courts, the issue also sparked debate about what Wyoming can gain, or lose, as it attempts to embrace an outdoor recreation and tourism economy while retaining long-held values of locals and visitors — with everyone from Plunge patrons to tribes and elected officials weighing in.

On Jan. 1, Wyoming State Parks granted a two-week extension to Luehne. But if ongoing litigation remains unresolved or a sale of the pools to Wyoming Hot Springs LLC doesn’t advance, the facility could close to the public. 

WyoFile visited Friday to check in with patrons and staff in what could be the final days under Luehne management. 

Employees 

Lifeguard Gene Moody perched on a stool, wearing a red hoodie with a radio clipped to the collar, surveying a handful of swimmers paddling around the indoor pool and soaking in smaller tubs. He wore a camouflage Donald Trump cap over his thick gray hair.

Moody, who is semi-retired, has been working at the Star Plunge for two and half years — checking water temps, warning people not to run and monitoring the slides. The former oilfield worker said it’s “the cleanest job I ever had.” 

Come Tuesday, Moody said, “I gotta find something else to do. I gotta have that income.” Moody is raising his twin teenage grandsons. 

Though he is confident he can find other work, Moody is upset about “the way [the state] approached this whole thing,” he said.

“You just don’t steal a person’s property,” he said. “And that’s what they tried to do.” 

Wyoming owns the state park land and holds lease contracts with many Hot Springs State Park tenants. The park is unlike more undeveloped state parks in that it features roads, parking lots and several buildings, including the aquatic facilities, hotels, a hospital, county library and others. 

Roland Luehne believes Wyoming State Parks intends to make the handoff without properly compensating him for improvements made to the facility over the years. Luehne’s lawsuits also allege the state’s proposal-seeking process was unfair and that the agency exceeded its authority. 

Wyoming State Parks officials defend their process as transparent and in the best interest of Wyoming. As the gem of the state park system, receiving upwards of 1 million annual visits, it’s time to update the park’s aging infrastructure to meet modern demands, the state says. 

Wyoming Hot Springs LLC’s winning bid promised major renovations for park facilities that have remained largely unchanged for decades. It proposes transforming Tepee into a spa and wellness center in a full reconstruction while enhancing the Star Plunge with new slides, pools and a poolside diner. One of the park’s hotels would also be updated. 

The elder Luehnes’ 50-year lease expired in 2008. Roland Luehne has since operated under a series of short-term management agreements, with the latest one expiring on Dec. 31. 

A court order signed Dec. 30 by Laramie District Court Judge Catherine Rogers denied Luehne’s request to continue operating after Dec. 31, (the state instead extended it) but prevents the state from enforcing the section of its management agreement that requires Luehne to remove his facilities upon expiration. 

The details of compensation and transference will likely be resolved by the court or the completed sale to the new operator. 

Hot city 

A woman working the Star Plunge front desk Friday, Kim, (she declined to share her last name), said she had probably fielded 24 calls in the previous three days from out-of-state visitors wondering what was going to happen to the facility. They included people who have been traveling annually to Thermopolis — people who build vacations around spending time at the Plunge but also patronize other amenities and restaurants in the town, she said. 

“This is what sustains our town,” she said, gesturing around her. 

With stately cottonwood trees, river access and mineral waters, the park is an undeniably special place. People have recognized that for centuries, and though many today speak of the difficulty of change, Hot Springs State Park has gone through a dizzying array of iterations. 

However, the draw of the mineral waters is certainly tied inextricably to the town’s economy. Thermopolis, which is Greek for “hot city,” was named in honor of the springs, and people visited the waters long before the town was established. 

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Derrick Curley, 38, stopped into the Star Plunge midday to buy some merchandise. The Massachusetts resident had driven over the day before from Sheridan with a friend to soak and hike. After learning the Star Plunge might close, he figured he’d grab a sweater, which could become a relic. 

The Star Plunge “feels very, like, homemade,” Curley said. “It could use some updating, but not too much. It’s functional as is.”

As Curley and his friend drove away, steam wafted from the nearby mineral terraces, where a boardwalk allows visitors to hike among the sulphur-scented vapors. Kildeer flitted among the shallow terrace waters near the boardwalk, and patches of ice formed amid the interplay of temperatures. From the top of the walkway, park visitors could be seen walking dogs, soaking in the state bathhouse and swimming at the Tepee’s outdoor pool. The strains of an Elton John song drifted from the outdoor speakers of the Star Plunge as two small girls braved the kiddie slide over and over.