Following public outcry over Trammell Crow Co’s plan to shut the popular Pennsylvania dive destination Dutch Springs, the development company has revised its warehouse development proposal to allow the site’s 50-acre quarry to remain open.

The original proposal only included Trammel’s 600,000 square feet of warehouse spaces. The new proposal, approved by both the Lower Nazareth and Bethlehem township zoning boards late last year, separates the 50-acre quarry lake from the rest of its project. (Due to the site location, one warehouse will be built in Bethlehem Township, and the other will be in Lower Nazareth Township.) The aqua and adventure park within Dutch Springs’s roughly 100 acres are permanently closed for the warehouse development.

Jim Folk of Bethlehem Township’s Atlantis Aquatics scuba shop will run the diving operation in Dutch Springs. Leigh Valley Live reports Folk spoke to the zoning board at the Bethlehem zoning meeting, explaining the benefits the quarry offers divers, like high visibility and training opportunities.

“We just don’t have that in any other lakes around here,” Folk said. “People that come here and train here are very familiar with this lake, which can be very important for training.”

Under the new proposal, training dives still seem possible, but recreational divers who aren’t supported by insured pros may not be able to access the site: Divers must be under the supervision of an insured dive pro. It’s unclear at this time whether the site would require in-water supervision or if surface supervision (which Dutch Springs has historically had) will suffice. Reservations will also be required.

Dutch Springs has been a bedrock of Northeast diving for over 40 years, but owners Stuart and Jane Wells Schooley put the property up for sale in preparation for retirement. The dive community immediately raised concerns upon the August 2021 announcement Trammell Crow had an agreement to purchase the property.

“Terrible news for the future of diving in this area. Gonna be tough for shops to survive and for new divers to be certified,” one diver posted on a ScubaBoard.com message board. Another wrote: “There really isn’t any comparable onshore alternative for quite a distance… It is going to be a real problem for training.”

For many long-time Dutch Springs divers, using the site mainly for training purposes takes away a crucial aspect of visiting: the camaraderie.

“Dutch was a magical place not because of the water or the attractions or the facilities. It was magical because of the community,” a diver with the username doctormike posted on ScubaBoard.com after the December zone board meeting. “You could just randomly drive there (often on a blowout day) and spend the day running into old friends and finding new ones… It was like a local pub.”