Dutch Springs, in nearby Lehigh Valley, has been a premier training center for scuba divers for the past 40 years. Its impending sale for commercial real estate (CRE) purposes may prove to be a wet blanket for the sport’s enthusiasts, reports Michael Tanenbaum for PhillyVoice.

The lake, which reaches depths of 100 feet, was once a quarry for a cement manufacturer. When that entity folded in the 1970s, the pit eventually filled with water via an underground spring.

Since 1980, it has become one of the best sites on the East Coast for training and certifying divers.

To hold students’ interests, aquatic “Easter eggs” were sunk below the surface, including a jet airplane and a trolley.

The site is now in danger of a January 2022 closure.

Its current owners have aged beyond their ability to maintain the property. And its real-estate valuation has skyrocketed into the millions.

Trammell Crow, a Dallas CRE developer, wants the acreage to build warehouses. The footings for these buildings would sit on the current lake, requiring that it be filled and eliminated forever.

In response, with the clock ticking, local dive enthusiasts fish for a solution. They proposed a lease arrangement that would enable them to still plumb the quarry’s watery depths. But thus far, no response has come from Trammel Crow.

“It’s like the mecca of the local dive community,” said a Dutch Springs alumna, making her case for the preserving its present use.

More on Dutch Springs and its murky future is at PhillyVoice.