About Lake Harmony's Split Rock

The new indoor water park at The Resort at Split Rock continues to move toward completion which is set for Fall 2008. Seems that the name will be H₂O..oooh. The new entrance has been connected to the existing Galleria building as seen here below and the building enclosed.

The slide tower is enclosed now and the internal equipment is starting to makes its way indoors as well

The opening should be a gala event for the Resort and the area. I am still trying to be the first one down a slide but know full well that this is an impossible request, I sure plan to be there on opening day and be one of the first day's sliders for sure.

Seems as if at least one new casino may be coming to the Pocono Mountain area. The next round of license hearings were held in May. There are only three applicants for the two Resort or Class 3 licenses available. The three are Fernwood Resort in Monroe County, The Resort at Split Rock in Carbon County and the Valley Forge Convention Center. The license would allow the successful applicants to have a facility with up to 500 slot machines (as opposed to the up to 5,000 permitted in the other two types of licenses).

At the May hearing held at the Kidder Township Building on the Split Rock application, the gist of the Resort's presentation was to show who and what they are, how they already comply with the stated requirements for such a license and the added revenue it would bring to the area. They also emphasized that the Valley Forge application is a stretch since they do not seem to meet the intent of the legislation (to assist resorts in the state to attract additional overnight stays and promote tourism) since they are not a destination resort like Split Rock or Fernwood. If that is the correct interpretation, it would seem to be a "no-brainer" and the two resorts would get their approvals. However, we all know that obvious interpretation of complicated laws seldom results in the same decision as reached by a court or other legal entity/agency. Even so, the two area resorts have a 2 out of 3 chance to get at least one license awarded here.

Public comment at the hearing was all favorable at the Split Rock hearing although it was not attended by anywhere near the number of people attending and commenting at the Fernwood hearing (which also essentially all favorable) held the day before. Of course, additional comments can still be made and received for the record via an online forum at the State Gaming Commission website.

Get ready for the impacts if the applications go through. This could well mean additional home rental business in the area plus a positive impact on local area stores, restaurants and other businesses. Naturally there could also be some downsides such as added traffic, additional people with the opportunity for additional crime etc. I hope that we are prepared for both of these possibilities and that the added revenues offset the added local government costs to deal with them. Anyone have any thoughts to share here or with the Gaming Commission?

At the top end of this photo is The Resort at Split Rock. The pictures below show that long established four season resort on Lake Harmony. Originaly built and owned by Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co, the Lodge was a vacation get-away for hunting and fishing for their executives but quickly eveolved into a public facility. The first picture below shows the Lodge from the swimming/dock area.

The picture below is a panoramic shot of Lake Harmony from the docks at Split Rock. From this viewpoint you are looking toward the bottom of the photo in the aerial view above.

We are digging up some more old photos of the area and will psot them later.

Lake Harmony was frozen over for most of the winter. This was just prior to starting to thaw. taken at the "spilway" end of the lake (where it "flows" into the Tunhkannock and tobyhanna Creeks Watershed) Ice fishing is a popular sport here when the conditions are right (which is most winters)

Someone hoping for Spring/Summer and th ewarmer weather. Maybe the ice with the fishing then will be with a cold drink rather than fishing through the ice.