After a summer off, Soda’s Geyser is back in action!

A crowd assembled in front of the until-recently dormant geyser in Soda Springs for the “re-starting” of the town’s iconic landmark.  The geyser has had a few stops and starts since it was initially discovered in 1937, but in recent memory there has not been a gap as lengthy as the summer hiatus.

“I can’t remember more than a week or so of it being off in my time,” said Caribou Historical Society’s Bill Horsley.

According to the commonly understood history of the geyser, its discovery was a complete accident.  A swimming pool was being excavated for, and during a dinner break in the activity, a sound that those eating mistook for a steam engine broke through the convivial conversation.  When the men emerged to see what the commotion was all about, they discovered two important facts, which were that the water shooting skyward would not be suitable for a pool, and that a pool was probably not the best use of the location.

In attendance were a long list of people who have been involved with the geyser restoration/reconstruction project, including city council and city crew members, engineers, and many more.

 The event was officiated by City Councilman Paul Gritton, who began by thanking the city crew and Dan Squires.  Squires “played a big role in getting this thing done in a timely fashion.  His crew got it done as fast as possible getting this thing up and running again.  It’s not as simple as going down to the geyser store and getting parts for it.”

“With the things that have gone on over the last week, I thought it would be appropriate to give things a bit of a patriotic twist,” Paul Gritton continued.  In part, this was a reference to Morco and Cody Spencer who “reached out and asked if they could fly the flag for us tonight.”  The flag was raised above the site with a large construction crane, somewhat akin to the iconic 9/11 images.  The other patriotic element was a rendition of the national anthem by Bancroft’s Alana Burns.  

Afterward, Gritton read from prepared remarks.  “The geyser—what does it mean for our town?  I’ve come to realize it means a great deal,” he began.  “It has a direct impact on Main Street.  When I would envision a Main Street that has every building full of a business of some sort, that is vibrant and healthy and full of life, with visitors coming to this geyser to view it—it’s a cornerstone.  It’s part of our town’s identity, and tonight I wanted to make this kind of a ceremonial occasion.  I would like to see this as a change in our attitude toward downtown.  Together, as a community, we can change what our downtown looks like, and the economic viability of the Main Street.   Bill Horsley noted that he had counted 13 empty buildings down town.  I would like to see that change.  It’s not going to be quick and easy, but I would like to see our Main Street get livened up a bit.  I’ve got some ideas that a state park would entirely change this downtown dynamic, in my opinion.  I just talked with Parks and Rec and we’re going to keep working on that.”

Gritton thanked Senator Mark Harris for his efforts in that area, and noted that “we’re only where we are due to Senator Harris.”  

“So, this geyser, in my opinion, is a revenue source for this community,” Gritton said.  “I guess I knew that, but it wasn’t until I spent time down here this summer doing whatever I could to get this thing going, that I saw how many people come down here to see this geyser.  And I know they have to be stopping at our businesses.  I am hoping that this geyser re-start is also the restart to our economic viability downtown.  So, I would challenge each and every business person in the community to look at ways you can dress your businesses up, no matter how small it is, to show they people who come here that we love our community and that we want them here and welcome them here,” Gritton said.

Gritton discussed color and vibrancy of Afton’s downtown, and again encouraged local businesses to make a difference.

Camille and Shane Peterson were specifically thanked for the investment they were planning to the area.  The owners of the Idan-ha and Grumpy Guys Pizza are planning to bring their pizza place downtown. “I want to recognize and thank them for their investment in the community.  What they’re doing down there is not cheap.”

“We’re excited to bring some more business downtown.  Like you said, it is a long, drawn out process, so be patient with us and we’ll try to get it done as soon as possible.  Thank you for the support that you’ve given us already—we’ve sold over 10,000 pizzas this year.  Hopefully we’ll do bigger and better things!” Shane said.

Dan Squires, who was instrumental in the geyser repair project, spoke about some of the technical aspects involved.  “Earlier this spring, I’m sure a lot of you knew that the geyser was not working right.  It didn’t work well all through the winter.   We weren’t exactly sure what was wrong with it—myself, Justin Hansen, Mike Veile, and Trevin Barfuss—we got together one day and decided to come look at it and see if it was a control issue or a valve issue, or what we had going on.  We came to the conclusion that it probably wasn’t a control issue, but a valve issue.  The valve itself was buried under the buildup from the geyser.”  

“We got a jackhammer and jackhammered all that buildup out to get down to the valve, and once we did get down there it was pretty obvious what the problem was.  If you aren’t familiar with how the old valve worked, it was hydraulic.  It had a hydraulic ram, a reservoir and a pump that actually pumped hydraulic fluid into a ram that opened and closed the valve.  It was pretty ingenious.  Folks way before me developed and built that and made it work.  It was a pretty neat system, but it was worn out.  We were just going to replace some parts, but once we got down to it we realized the body of the valve had completely worn through.”  

“We stepped back and looked at it to see if there was something better we could do—I mean, that was forty year old technology, and technology has come a long way since then.  We decided to look at maybe an electrically actuated valve.  We contacted a few suppliers.  Rust Automation is one of the suppliers I use a lot for the city.  They sent a valve engineer from Ocala, Florida who came down and he completed nerded out on this valve!  He was all over this, and they were pretty excited to be part of a one of one.  They did an awesome job and went above and beyond with this valve.”

Squires explained that the hardest part was actually getting the old valve off and the new one on.  In the course of making the change, they installed an auxiliary valve they can shut off to control the geyser when they have to work on the automatic valve.  The valve is under constant pressure, so “we all had a pretty good bath.”

The new valve is a rotary plug valve.  It is “very wear-resistant” and made with the water makeup of the geyser in mind.  There should be 300,00 cycles before anything needs to be replaced.  Because of the different nature of the replacement valve, it does take a little longer to reach full-open, about 35 seconds.  Otherwise, though, “the height and volume are the same,” according to Squires.

“And we do have spare parts!” Squires laughed.

The valve itself was around $16,000 including specialty engineering, and the full repair ran around $19,000.

Like Gritton, Squires noted that “I had no idea how many people come here during the day to see the geyser.  No idea how many people came here every day—I was shocked.  It was eye-opening.”

Following his remarks, Squires was given the reward of retiring the “closed” sign that has been in front of the geyser for months.  

State Senator Mark Harris was given the honor of cutting the ribbon to officially open the geyser.  “I appreciate this, and I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who made this geyser work again.  This geyser is iconic to Soda Springs.  I grew up just south of here, and I would come into town when I was old enough to drive into school.  I would leave the house on time, but as you can see I don’t wear a watch.  When I’d leave to go to school, I’d get distracted by a cow that was out, or a fence that needed to be fixed and I’d watch to see if the geyser was going.  If it was going, then I wasn’t going to be late for school.  It was kind of something that I would watch to see what time it was.  Now I watch for it when I come to church.  If it’s going, I’m going to be late.

Anyway, it’s good that the geyser’s going to be back—it’s like an old friend.  It’s always been there and it’s always going to be there.  So thanks again to those that have done so much to bring this geyser back, not only for us who watch it to see what time it is, but all the people who come to see it.  I too am surprised at the people who come by to see the geyser!”

Without further ado, Senator Harris cut the ribbon and the geyser made its maiden re-voyage without incident.  

Councilman Ryan Carpenter spoke briefly as well, explaining that the geyser had been a part of his life since 1990, which “seems like yesterday.”  He noted that it was amazing to see people witness it for the first time.  “We take it for granted sometimes,” Carpenter said.  He pointed out former City Services Director Justin Hansen, who had also played a big part in the restoration of the geyser.  Carpenter then offered a prayer before the event ended.