Dells Feels the Loss: Cancellations Common Since Lake Delton Drained

By Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jun. 18–LAKE DELTON — The beach at Baker’s Sunset Bay Resort is bigger than it used to be, Lake Delton Water Sports has plenty of boats to rent and tourists are flocking here to see the new attraction.

That’s the good news.

The downside is that much of Sunset Bay’s beach used to lie underneath Lake Delton, which, until last week Monday, was filled with pontoons, fishing boats and wave runners rented by Lake Delton Water Sports.

Now, judging by the gawkers lining the bridge through town, a dried-up Lake Delton is getting its picture taken much more often than when it looked like pretty much every lake in Wisconsin.

While some tourism business was flushed away along with the lake when a breach opened last week, Wisconsin Dells officials want visitors to know the place is still open for business.

"It’s tough. It is. We’ve lost a lot of reservations even though we didn’t sustain any damage," said Dawn Baker, general manager of Baker’s Sunset Bay Resort, which her family has owned for 28 years.

At this time of year, the week after schools in Chicago and the Twin Cities let out for the summer, about 95% of Sunset Bay’s 74 rooms and cabins are normally rented. But only 20% are filled now, said Baker, because so many people canceled their reservations after seeing water gush out of Lake Delton on the television news.

"They think the Dells are closed. We’re not. We try to assure them on the phone, but they’ve made up their minds," said Baker, pointing out that her resort offers four pools and a sauna along with the new big beach.

Quite a few spots open

Many of the resorts on Lake Delton, including Sunset Bay, are offering gift cards for Dells Army Ducks and passes for discounts on popular attractions to entice people to come and stay.

Plus the majority of attractions, including the water parks, miniature golf, boat tours and downtown businesses, are still open.

There’s not much Lake Delton Water Sports can do, though. Steve and Kathy Zowin have owned the business for 29 years and though Kathy Zowin said it will be easy to clean their docks now, they had to lay off half of their 16-person work crew.

The service department is still open, and some employees have been busy pulling out boats stuck in the muck. The marina’s stock of Avalon pontoon boats is being sold at a reduced rate. And they’re providing long-term boat rentals at other places like Castle Rock and Lake Wisconsin while also boosting their boat/canoe/kayak rental concession on Mirror Lake, but it still won’t make up for what they lost when the water vanished.

"We’re in financial devastation," said Steve Zowin. "The first message on my answering machine Tuesday (the day after the lake drained) was from my bank saying ‘We’ll get through this.’ "

Normally on a Tuesday in mid-June the parking lot at Lake Delton Water Sports would be filled and 80% of the business’ 28 watercraft rentals would be out on the lake.

"The only people parking in our lot are those coming to see the lake," said Kathy Zowin. "I feel like someone I knew died. You go through a grieving process. Things will eventually get back to normal. We just have to get through this year."

So many of the curious were stopping in at Ravina Bay Restaurant, which has a large deck overlooking the lake-turned-mud/sand-pit, that a sign was taped to the front door telling folks the deck was for customers only.

It also included a phone number to call for free viewing spots of Lake Delton for those who wanted to see the site but not order a beer or burger.

New acts for Bartlett show

Opposite Ravina Bay Restaurant is the Tommy Bartlett Show, where ramps emblazoned with "The Greatest Pirate Show on H2O" sit in the mud. Since water-skiers can no longer leap off the ramps or ski by in the three-level pyramid, show organizers have filled out the two-hour show with other acts, including a comedian/juggler and a sound effects expert.

An appreciative crowd of several hundred attended Monday night’s show, eating popcorn and cotton candy while watching unicyclists, a guy climb a really tall pole, a water and light show accompanied by patriotic music and a couple perform inside a rotating double wheel.

They also watched Aqua the Clown pull a large drain plug out of the lake.

Tickets sold in June typically represent about 20% of the Tommy Bartlett Show’s summer business. Sales have been down since Lake Delton disappeared, said general manager and co-owner Tom Diehl.

"You can’t expect to have the catastrophic things happening within 150 miles of here not affect us," Diehl said, mentioning the closure of the interstate system and flooding elsewhere in southern Wisconsin and Iowa. Plus, high gas and food prices are discouraging people from leaving home this summer.

But with a revamped show and efforts to encourage people to buy tickets, Diehl is hopeful that the Tommy Bartlett Show will continue to attract customers.

At Lakeside Motel, 13 people have canceled their reservations and thousands of dollars in deposits had to be returned, said owner Christine Nowak.

The motel offers five paddleboats and two rowboats to customers who want to see the lake in the motel’s name. Now, of course, the boats are stacked on land and the steps leading down to the water’s edge end at a large sandbar next to a small stream of water running from Dell Creek through Lake Delton and down into the Wisconsin River.

Normally, Lakeside Motel has about 200 feet of water frontage and many customers come to go fishing. Now there are no fish. They, too, were swept away downstream into the river.

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