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Weeki Wachee Owner Offers Attraction To State

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By BILL KACZOR, The Associated Press

Published: December 19, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Florida could have mermaids on the payroll under a tentative plan to turn Weeki Wachee Springs into a state park, although Hernando County officials are also interested in taking over the troubled attraction.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole on Tuesday told Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet the attraction's owners signed a letter of intent to donate it to the state.

"Can we keep the mermaids?" Crist said.

Sole told him they would become state employees, but he added, "We'll need to create a new position title."

Unless that's done, they would probably be classified as park rangers, department spokeswoman Sarah Williams said.
Weeki Wachee Springs opened 60 years ago about 50 miles north of Tampa, making it one of Florida's oldest tourist attractions. Known as much for the performing mermaids as its natural beauty, it is enmeshed in a legal dispute that has threatened its continued operation.

"It's one of the great natural wonders of Florida," said Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Cabinet member. "But it's not been managed particularly the way we'd like it in the last few years."

The deal hinges on further negotiations with Weeki Wachee Springs LLC, which operates the attraction, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which owns the property.

The proposed state takeover would settle lawsuits the company and district have filed against each other, both alleging contract violations.

"There is no definitive agreement," Weeki Wachee spokesman John Athanason said. "We can back out of this letter at any time."

Weeki Wachee officials also want to see what Hernando County proposes, Athanason said. He said the attraction owes a debt of gratitude to local residents for help in rescuing it.

"We want to do what's right for this attraction and what's right for the citizens of Hernando County," Athanason said.

The attraction fell into disrepair under a previous owner and was donated the tiny city of Weeki Wachee in 2003. The city, which has only nine residents, then formed Weeki Wachee LLC to run it.

There are about 50 full-time employees, and about 150 seasonal workers are hired from March through September when the attraction's water park is open, Athanason said. He said about $1 million in repairs, including donated material, have been completed since the city took over the facility.

The state's letter of intent signed by Weeki Wachee Mayor Robyn Anderson, a former mermaid, says the department would seek funding from the Legislature to operate at current staffing and salary levels, but there's no guarantee that lawmakers will provide the necessary money.

It does, though, promise at least four key employees, including Anderson and Athanason, "will be retained as close to their current annual compensation as possible."

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