Everything, including the waterslides, is up for sale at the Wasserbahn

WILLIAMSBURG — Less than a month after the Wasserbahn Waterpark Resort closed, everything inside the hotel, restaurant and pool area is being auctioned online — including twin four-story-tall fiberglass watersides.

“I’m like a kid in a candy store in here to see what I can find,” said Jim Tinnes, 58, of Keota.

Tinnes and his wife, Kim, came Tuesday to Williamsburg to look at everything for sale at the waterpark hotel that suddenly closed March 1.

Backes Auctioneers, of Waterloo, is hosting the online auction of more than 1,000 lots through 10 a.m. Thursday, but had open houses at the hotel Sunday and Tuesday.

People who came to the viewing Tuesday were browsing for deals, verifying the quality of items they saw online or just gawking at a hotel that once had been a gem in Iowa County but now has deteriorated with black mold, peeling paint, fallen ceiling tiles and piles of garbage.

Auctioneer Rod Backes said he wants to have everything out of the building by this weekend, except for large items like the waterslides. He anticipates the buyer of the slides will need a crane to lift out the sections and a semi to take them to their destination. Bids on the slides had climbed to $650 by Tuesday afternoon.

Wasserbahn owner Yule Park, who lives in California, hired Backes to auction the goods so the building can be demolished, Backes said. He does not know what the plans are for the site, which has several remaining buildings including an Amoco gas station and the 225 Artisans Gallery.

The open house provided a peek into the hotel’s past.

A meeting room had historical photos, one of a barn fire in South Amana, showing clusters of women in bonnets and men in dark clothes milling about. Another shows a V-shaped rock formation in the Iowa River near Amana believed to have been built by Native Americans to trap fish.

Amana-Nordstrom built the hotel in 1971. It was a Holiday Inn in its early days, serving as a frequent site for wedding receptions and other parties in Iowa County. Velvet lounge chairs, padded banquet chairs and sections of parquet dance floor — all being auctioned off — point to the hotel’s heyday.

All the fixtures of the waterpark, added to the hotel 2004, are for sale, including an 160-gallon dump bucket, Mill Race rope water game and patio furniture.

“The only reason we came out was because there are some tables we’re interested in,” said Tom Capper, who owns Old Man’s Creek vineyard and winery, in Parnell, with his wife, Vicki.

Bids on several sets of tables and chairs were between $35 and $65, which is much cheaper than you could buy the same items new from a home improvement store, Capper said, checking his phone for comparable prices.

Terry Wertz, 63, of Parnell, was looking at kitchen supplies, including steel baking pans, and PTAC units — the heating and air conditioning units used in many hotel rooms.

“They’re a pretty good resale item,” he said.

Wasserbahn resort staff learned March 1 the hotel was closing immediately, KCRG-TV reported. An employee said staff were left without pay and those living at the hotel didn’t have a place to stay.

Recent hotel and pool inspections show customer complaints, including one about black mold seen in part of the hotel and another from a family who said they got sick after visiting the water park Feb. 8.

Iowa County Assessor’s records show Smock Investments purchased the property on contract in 2019 for $3.23 million. A contract purchase means the buyer makes payments over time and takes ownership when the contract is fulfilled.

Avari Investments, which bought the property out of foreclosure in 2014, still is listed as the deed holder. The Gazette has not been able to reach Tom Smock nor Avari’s owner, Park, for comment.

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