Northampton County’s bid to acquire the Dutch Springs aqua park quarry apparently has ended, but private bidders hope to save the quarry for divers.
County Executive Lamont McClure said this week that the county offered to assume the quarry, with its liability issues, if Texas commercial-property developer Trammell Crow agreed to drop one of its two warehouses planned for the site, which is in Lower Nazareth and Bethlehem townships.
McClure said Trammell Crow officials declined the offer. Representatives for the developer did not respond to messages Wednesday or Thursday.
McClure said the county is done negotiating.
Dutch Springs owner Stuart Schooley said last month there’s an agreement to sell approximately 95 acres, half of which includes a quarry-filled lake, to Trammell Crow. He and his wife and co-owner, Jane Wells Schooley, are retiring from operating Dutch Springs, he said.
Meanwhile, Bucks County resident Cara Galob said she’s spoken with a Trammell Crow official about turning over the quarry — with the developer still building its two warehouses — to her nonprofit called Support Homeless Veterans.
Her goal: operate a diving-facility hub for veterans to become certified scuba instructors, as well as provide first responders with a location to practice diving.
“Right now we are all over the place,” Galob said. “We find places for veterans to learn . . . it’s very disjointed.”
She said a Trammell Crow representative listened to her presentation and seemed interested.
“At least they have said that they respect the diving community and want to find a solution that benefits the whole community,” Galob said. “They seem to care.”
Trammell Crow has planned for the lake to be fenced off, which has frustrated the tight-knit scuba diving community that is hoping to maintain what has become a Northeast staple for longtime divers, as well as for newcomers seeking industry-mandated certification.
“If I have a lake with a narrow fence, it will be tough,” Galob said.
But she sounded optimistic.
“Will Dutch Springs be different?” Galob said. “Yes it will be different, but we think we can makes changes that will positively impact the diving community.”
Galob, who lives in Warrington, has also reached out to Lehigh Valley state lawmakers for their support. She declined to provide other specifics on her proposal, citing the private nature of negotiations.
Joseph Sferrazza, a member of the New York City Sea Gypsies scuba club and a 1982 Muhlenberg College graduate, said another member of the diving club has asked to meet with Trammell Crow, but he had not heard of any progress.
“I suspect there’s a deal to be made for the lake,” said Sferrazza, who is also a Long Island attorney. He said the issue of liability insurance for the lake can be solved, but like Galob, he said the land around the lake is just as important as having the lake.
“It just can’t be the lake,” he said. “There have to be enough acres to support it.”
Last month, Matt Nunn, a Trammell Crow principal, said in a statement that company representatives have been in discussions with “local officials” with a goal of donating the water portion and an adjacent area of the property for officials to maintain the facilities and provide community uses.
Lower Nazareth officials previously said plans would enable emergency responders to continue to use the lake, but it will otherwise be fenced off.
Nunn on Thursday did not respond to messages. The Schooleys did not immediately respond to an email message.
The Dutch Springs plan has received heavy community opposition since news broke that the property was under agreement to be sold to Trammell Crow, which is planning a project called Lehigh Valley Trade Center III on the roughly 100-acre site. The plan calls for a 296,000-square-foot warehouse in Lower Nazareth and a 300,000-square-foot warehouse in Bethlehem Township.
A Change.org petition called “Save Dutch Springs (scuba diving facility) from becoming a warehouse,” had gathered more than 6,700 signatures as of Thursday.
The plan would need approval from both townships, but the land already is zoned to allow warehousing.
Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com.
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