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Tourism rises from coal’s ashes
Split Rock Resort, once a Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company offshoot, is flourishing in the shadow of its late, great parent
Among the largest hotel and businesses in the Pocono Mountains, Kidder Township’s Split Rock Resort has steadily grown since 1981 under the ownership of Jack Kalins. It may come as a surprise that this resort began as a hunting retreat for executives of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N.)
In the mid 1800s, to protect the watershed feeding their navigation system, LC&N purchased thousands of acres of wilderness at the headwaters of the Lehigh River. In Kidder Township, along the west shore of 127-acre Big Pond, property was purchased from the Keck estate. Later, Big Pond would change its name to Lake Harmony. The property included Big Spring, the source of drinking water for all the homes surrounding the lake.
A feature of the property was Split Rock, a mountaintop rock canyon outcropping part of the geologic formation that created Boulder Field at Hickory Run State Park. Located [1/2]-mile west of Lake Harmony at an elevation of 2,040 feet, it has been classified as red sandstone of the Duncannon Member of the Catskill Formation. The Wisconsin Glacier tilted the rock formation with subsequent erosion wearing away the exposed rock layers and creating the canyon.
The property was, in 1937, planned by Robert V. White, president of LC&N, to become a hunting and fishing retreat for company executives. The original rustic lodge had five rooms with baths and ten without for a total capacity of thirty. It opened in 1942 and was immediately popular.
The WWII years helped a declining LC&N gain temporary profitability. But by 1949, the company returned to its descent toward insolvency. Although its coal business was floundering, its resort business was growing. In 1946, White added a ski slope; a forerunner to what would become Big Bolder the first ski slope in Pennsylvania. White stepped down as LC&N president in 1954.
In 1962, LC&N reorganized. It was getting out of the coal and railroad businesses and focusing on resorts and real estate. Its Pocono properties were the one bright spot in its portfolio. It continued to expand Split Rock Lodge.
In the mid 1960s, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the lessee of LC&N’s Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad, collapsed. In 1965, LC&N issued a liquidation plan. Among the assets, each shareholder received one share of Split Rock Lodge, Inc.
In August of 1970, a fire burned the main lodge at Split Rock. “It was a traumatizing experience for the community,” said Split Rock General Manager Chuck Dickenson. “It was an important focal hub.” Days later, plans began on construction of a newer lodge (completed in 1991) with additional rooms, and new dining and recreational areas.
In 1981, Jack Kalins, a former Pocono Raceway employee, fulfilled a lifelong dream to operate a recreational resort by purchasing Split Rock. He formed a corporation in 1978 and in 1979, changed it name to Vacation Charters, Ltd. (VCL.) with a focus on vacation properties. VCL purchased the Carriage House at Pocono Manor.
In 1981, VCL purchased Village Square and Pocono Recreation, Inc., which included Split Rock Lodge and the Lake Harmony property. In 1986, VCL purchased the Holiday Inn at White Haven currently the Pocono-Ramada Inn and in 1999, purchased Mountain Laurel Resort.
In 1985, the Galleria complex was completed at Split Rock. It had an indoor pool, movie theater, racquetball courts, tennis courts, game room, coffee shop and ice cream parlor. It later expanded by adding a salon, gift shop, and a new building with tennis courts-the old tennis courts became a ballroom. The building was expanded to house an indoor regulation NBA basketball court, a fitness center, massage operation, and an eight-lane bowling alley.
Building continued adding a 27-hole golf course, 98 rustic villas and a new section, Willowbrook, designed as a time-share condominium built around the golf course. Willowbrook’s unit three is currently under construction. Split Rock plans to add a 40,000 square foot indoor water park with a wave pool, surf ride, and tube rides.
VCL has historically generated sales in the $30to $35 million range while heavily depending on outside financing to support operations and growth. In 1993, one of its lenders withdrew its credit line in compliance with new banking regulations forcing VCL into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It emerged from bankruptcy in 1996.
Split Rock Resorts is currently about 1,000-acres and has a payroll of 600 higher in season. It employs an outside crew of 45 to keep the lawns mowed, the flowers cared for, and work on the ongoing construction.
Split Rock draws guests from the Philadelphia, New York and Delmarva markets. During the summer and winter seasons, it attracts families with children. In the spring and fall, it caters to couples. Its montage of geology, natural beauty and historic location caters to eco-tourism and heritage tourism. Guests enjoy viewing deer, which there are more of in Split Rock than in Hickory Run State Park.
Now that gambling is coming to Pennsylvania, Split Rock Resort is well positioned for gambling related growth. Being well-established and well-positioned in the New York and Philadelphia markets, for Split Rock Lodge success is looking like a sure bet.