Athens Scuba Park: A Texas-Sized Vision

By Linda Lee Walden

Our story begins in the mid-1980s with avid scuba diver and entrepreneur Calvin Wilcher. A Texas native, Wilcher ran a heavy equipment business in the Dallas area until he seized an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the cellular phone industry. For two years he spent most of his time on the road opening cell service in rural areas of Texas.

One day, tired from the week's work and missing a convenient place to dive in northeast Texas, Wilcher asked around about a place he might go to blow some bubbles. Locals pointed him to a nearby clay pit, part of a long-closed brick factory, that kids sometimes used as a swimming hole.

Wilcher was unprepared for what he discovered hidden behind the mounds of clay slag surrounding the pit. Looking down over the sparkling blue seven-acre lake, he spotted two young boys swimming in the water. He recalls this as the moment he had his vision. "One boy dived down and I could follow his form deeper and deeper, to the bottom and back up. I was astounded at the great visibility," he said. "The ideas just started pouring out of my head. I knew right then that I had to buy the property and develop it into a scuba park."

And that is just what Wilcher did. Fifteen years and lots of backbreaking work later, Athens Scuba Park is known in northeast Texas and neighboring states as a top-notch facility for open-water scuba training.

Acquiring the 50-acre (20-hectare) property turned out to be the easy part. For 90 years the rare white clay deposit had been mined to supply raw material for the adjacent firebrick factory. When the brick factory closed in 1959, the buildings crumbled and the site became an illegal dump for all sorts of junk – large and small. Luckily, however, the two-story-high slag hills surrounding the flooded clay pit prevented the trash from reaching the water.

Wilcher's first job was to bulldoze away the chest-deep sea of trash, including more than 1,000 refrigerators, cars, couches, etc., and level the massive clay hills to provide diver access to the lake. Then he hauled in 87 truckloads of sand and soil, planted grass and trees and built a small facilities building.

Working almost entirely by himself, the preliminary work took two years. Athens Scuba Park opened in 1989 with two entry/exit docks and one cabin cruiser for an underwater attraction. But that was just the beginning. The number of access docks has since been expanded to 10, including one that simulates the deck of a dive boat. Benches lining its two sides are equipped with tank racks, the exit ladder swings up, and the dock can actually be fitted with an outboard motor and moved out onto the lake for specialized training.

For the convenience of instructors conducting open-water skill evaluations, 10 carpeted training platforms are suspended at depths of 20-25 feet (6-7.6 m) within an easy swim of the access docks. Each is at least 15 feet (4.6 m) square and marked by a surface float. Reflective arrows and signs guide divers from the platforms to major underwater attractions.

Realizing that divers need more than clear water to keep them interested, Wilcher has peppered the clay bottom with unusual items. In addition to more than a dozen boats, divers can visit a golf cart, two buses, a Volkswagen van, a Jet Ski, a motorcycle and an airplane. The 42-foot (12.8-m), three-deck houseboat named "Take Two" was used by Clint Eastwood's film crew during the shooting of "The Dirty Dozen."

Athens Scuba Park received national media attention in the summer of 2000 when CNN filmed the sinking of a 75-foot- (23-m-) long, 12-passenger, C-140 Jetstar military transport jet. The tip of the tail reaches within 8 feet (2.4 m) of the surface; the fuselage rests on the bottom at 27 feet (8.2 m).

Several sites within the lake are designed for overhead environment training. A 5-foot- (1.5-m-) diameter culvert, called the "Black Hole," simulates an underwater cave. The culvert leads through the bank of the lake and emerges 40 feet (12.2 m) later in a waist-deep pond. For safe penetration, larger wrecks are fitted with permanent guidelines.

What first attracted Wilcher about the former clay pit was the unusually good visibility, which can be attributed to several factors. The lakebed is composed of heavy white clay. It is filled by spring water filtering through many thin layers of clay and receives little runoff from the surrounding countryside. The pH level of the clay prevents sustained growth of algae and few fish live there. In the summer, visibility is consistently more than 50 feet (15 m) and sometimes as much as 80 feet (24 m). During the late-winter and fall rainy seasons it can diminish to as little as 15 feet (4.6 m) and silting does occur where a group of novice divers congregates near the bottom. Dive professionals cite the exceptional visibility as one of the highlights of diving Athens Scuba Park.

During the summer, the scuba park takes on a tropical atmosphere. Since the lake's maximum depth is only 35 feet (10.7 m), the water heats up to the high 80s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius). Most divers need only swimsuits to be comfortable from mid-May through fall. Winter, however, brings a far different experience. While air temperatures in northern Texas fall from the 90s F (30s C) to near freezing in January and February, water temperature can plummet to less than 50 F (10 C). Full wet suits or dry suits are necessary.

In following his vision, Wilcher has not ignored topside necessities. The original building was expanded to include a dive store with air fills and gear rentals (including SASY , Supplied Air Snorkeling for Youth). The bathhouse is being expanded from two to eight hot-water showers. Nearby is a 30-foot- (9-m-) long gear rinse rack with several hoses and two cold-water showers.

The name scuba "park" is appropriate. Wilcher and his wife, Shannon, strive to create a relaxed atmosphere that can be enjoyed by divers and their families. A paved section is set aside for overnight RV parking and grassy tent camping areas line the shore. Shaded picnic tables are scattered about; barbecue pits invite cookouts. A sand volleyball court and a horseshoe pit have been constructed and a floor slab from the old brick factory is used for basketball. Alcohol is not permitted in the park.

In season once a month, a live band is hired to play at the bandstand; at other times piped music entertains. Each summer the Wilchers throw a luau party, an underwater scavenger hunt and several underwater treasure hunts. Fall brings an underwater pumpkin-carving contest broadcast within the park on closed circuit TV. "Calvin loves what he does," Shannon says, "and that's why it works."

Although the park has never had a diving accident, oxygen and first aid supplies are available on-premises. The nearest recompression chamber is at Mother Frances Hospital, 35 miles (56 km) away in Tyler, just a few minutes by Flight for Life helicopter.

The park averages 200-300 people per day on a summer weekend and 15,000 annually. It is used for open-water training dives by an estimated 54 eastern Texas dive stores, plus others from Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Since the CNN spot, individuals have come to dive from the far corners of the States and overseas. Although Calvin and Shannon Wilcher are scuba instructors, their staff instructor, Jim Duncan, handles most of the 100 or so certification courses conducted annually by the park's in-house dive training center. Shannon devotes her time to administrative duties and private training. In addition to constantly improving the park, Calvin has embarked on a new training venture – advanced search and recovery using high-tech detecting equipment.

Athens Scuba Park is less than a mile from the town square of Athens, Texas, population 15,000. About 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Dallas in the midst of scenic lake country, this small town offers weekend divers several choices of accommodations and plenty of restaurants.

Wilcher's vision is still growing. In addition to the new shower house and lake dredging that are planned for this year, Wilcher expects to erect additional shade pavilions, enlarge the RV parking and offer scuba kayaks. The best thing about the vision though, is the family atmosphere. "People who come here generally come a lot," Wilcher says. His goal: "To make them feel like it's their place."

Athens Scuba Park is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday in the spring and summer, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the same days in the fall and winter. Admission is $15 per diver. For more information, visit www.athensscubapark.com or call (903) 675-5762.