beckyrepp Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 Hi Gang - This came into my inbox today. I've written to John to learn what, if anything, we can do to help. I will let you know what I learn. It would be just terrible to lose this classic roadside attraction. For those of you not familiar with Weeki Wachee - listen to the American Road magazine interview with one of Weeki Wachee's mermaids: https://americanroadmagazine.com/programmin...rogramming.html. Becky FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE State Agency Terminates Weeki Wachee’s Lease Mermaid attraction operating month to month Contact: John Athanason, Marketing/Public Relations Director (352) 596-2062 ext. 11 ~office (352) 427-3299 ~cell WEEKI WACHEE, FL- The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), recently informed Weeki Wachee Springs attraction in a letter that they have terminated the 30 year lease the attraction had with the state governed agency. For more information, please see attached release. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below is for those who have asked to be updated on the recent developments on the case of SWFWMD vs. Weeki Wachee Springs. Just a quick update on the SWFWMD saga. We received a letter from SWFWMD Assistant General Counsel Joseph Ward that the 30 year lease between Weeki Wachee Springs and SWFWMD has been terminated as of May 10, 2007. The letter goes on to say that we are now on a month to month basis. The reason for the termination according to the letter was due to an injunction that we filed against the District in court, to stop them from unlawfully terminating the lease. As everyone knows, a landlord has several steps that have to go through before terminating a lease and SWFWMD is attempting to go from the first step to the last step, skipping everything in between. This was the reason for our injunction against SWFWMD. We were asking the court to stop SWFWMD from illegally terminating the lease. This gave Mr. Ward the opportunity to say "Ah ha! Gotcha!." A case management hearing is set for August 16, 10 a.m., at the Hernando County courthouse. Motions for summary judgement that SWFWMD filed, will be heard and the possibility of this case being resolved could happen on that day... Good or bad. As we have for the past four years since taking over the attraction, we have paid our lease payments on time, and will continue to do so. We continue to ask the question. What issues remain with the District? The only issue SWFWMD had four years ago was that they wanted the attraction to fix the $1-million worth of neglect when Mr. Farrar was managing Weeki Wachee. Farrar refused and threatened to turn in the keys and walk away. When we took over the attraction on August 1, 2003, we began the overwhelming task of curing the neglect. With the generous help of the public, ALL neglect was cured for a fraction of the estimated cost! The attraction is no longer in a state of neglect. All lease payments have been paid in a timely manner. Further improvements have been made to the park. The parks attendance and revenue have been increasing every year and is now showing a profit. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me at the number listed below. I will keep all of you informed of further details as soon as possible. Again we would like to thank everyone for the tremendous support the park has received worldwide! We continue to get emails on a daily basis from people all over expressing their desire to see that the attraction continue the way it has for the past 60 years. It is your support that has kept Weeki Wachee going thus far. Your voice has been, and will continue to be the difference. Kindest regards, John Athanason Marketing & Public Relations Director _Weeki Wachee Spring The only city of live Mermaids!_ (http://mermaid1.weekiwachee.com/index.php?&MMN_position=1:1) (352) 596-2062 ext. 11 (352) 427-3299 ~Cell ********************************** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beckyrepp Posted August 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 Hello everyone, I heard from Weeki Wachee - and was informed the best thing that we could do to help preserve this landmark attraction is to write an e-mail to four entities/individuals. The e-mail addresses are available at the following link: http://mermaid.weekiwachee.com/index.php?m...MN_position=6:6 following a recount of the saga to save Weeki Wachee. I hope you will join American Road magazine in expressing your thoughts to save the "only city of live mermaids!" We don't want Weeki Wachee to be another bulldozed attraction. Best, Becky Repp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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