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Weeki Wachee Springs Step Closer To Park Status

Chris Urso/TAMPA TRIBUNE

Mermaid Supervisor Marcy Terry rehearses at Weeki Wachee Springs.

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Tony Marrero of Hernando Today

Published: January 26, 2008

At about 11 p.m. Thursday, Robyn Anderson took some time to reflect on what has been at times a very difficult journey in the last four years.

Anderson, mayor of the City of Weeki Wachee and general manager of Weeki Wachee Springs, thought about the hard work it took to improve the landmark, neglected by the previous owner but still universally beloved.

As she sat in a room on the 10th floor of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection building in Tallahassee, she thought about the women, past and present, who pulled on tails to perform as mermaids and about the dozens of other employees who make a living from the park.

She happily recalled the support of the community during the Save Our Tails campaign that helped save the attraction from the brink of closing.

She fought back tears that welled up with memories both painful and pleasant.

Then she returned to another room where DEP officials awaited, took a deep breath, and signed an agreement to make Weeki Wachee Springs a state park starting Nov. 1.

"It's amazing to see that everything that we did was worth it," Anderson recalled Friday, just a short time after calling in the attraction's employees to brief them on the deal and how it will affect them.

"It was such an emotional roller coaster since day one," Anderson said. "I'm confident we made the decision to put this in the best hands possible, and that's DEP."

The agreement was not available Friday — and Anderson declined to comment on specifics — because it is still considered part of court-ordered mediation talks between the attraction and its landlord, the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Those talks are bound by confidentially laws.

Because the water district, known as Swiftmud, owns the 27 acres on which the park sits, it must also approve the deal with DEP.

That could come as early as Tuesday during the next regular meeting of the district's governing board, said Swiftmud spokesman Michael Molligan.

"It's exciting news," Molligan said. "We're thankful that DEP and Weeki Wachee were able to work out an agreement. We hope this could be the end of a very long and protracted legal dispute."

Sarah Williams, spokeswoman for DEP, said officials there also are excited and are hopeful Swiftmud will give its blessing.

Some major points of the deal can be safely assumed, though.

The mermaid show will go on, something that even Gov. Charlie Crist indicated he wanted to see happen.

A letter of intent that Anderson signed for December noted that several key employees, including Anderson and marketing director John Athanason, would stay on board.

However, Anderson was also adamant that the rest of the attraction's employees would be protected, at least for the short term.

Those employees reacted well to the news Friday, Anderson said.

"They're excited. This is history in the making," she said.

The deal with the state is expected to end a longstanding legal battle between the attraction and Swiftmud.

Swiftmud questioned the legality of the city's ownership of the attraction. The district also claimed attraction officials violated the lease by removing sand from the area near the spring, something Swiftmud considered an illegal dredge.

Swiftmud said it was putting the attraction on a month-to-month lease.

The lease gave the district no such power, countered Joe Mason, the Brooksville attorney representing the attraction.

Anderson also sought to reduce the district's annual lease. The rent, Anderson argued, should be based on attendance figures.

As the court battle last summer continued, Anderson invited DEP officials to the park to explore the possibility of folding the attraction into the state park system as a way to settle the Swiftmud dispute and to ensure the longevity of the landmark.

Anderson had hoped that the county could be included in the mediation talks to rule out the possibility of including the attraction in the county park system. County officials and commissioners agreed, however, that they would rather avoid getting involved in the legal dispute and wait for the mediation to play out — or get an official invitation from Swiftmud to the talks.

Swiftmud declined to offer that invitation, saying talks with the state were too far along to bring another party to the table. Anderson had already signed a letter of intent with DEP that gave a rough outline of the agreement.

Anderson said Mason deserves much credit for taking on the case and dedicating himself to it even without payment.

"If it wasn't for him, we couldn't be here now," Anderson said.

Anderson also praised Tallahassee lobbyist Dale Adams for acting as a liaison with DEP. Mason, Adams, Athanason and Weeki Wachee Springs human resources director Sara Tenison were also on hand Thursday night.

And she credits her staff for helping bolstering her during the tough times.

"If it weren't for them, I probably would have given up a long time ago," Anderson said.

Athanason said those employees have been behind Anderson all along.

Largely because of her, he said, "the park has an opportunity to thrive for the next 60 years."

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