In 1966 the
newly created Dogpatch theme park purchased the cave from the
Raneys with the idea of making the cave a part of the theme park.
Further development began on the cave and the immediate area.
A well known caver, Jim Schermerhorn supervised much of the work
at this time. Jim was one of the original Dogpatch shareholders.
Surface
improvements included:
1) Building an easy access road across Mill Creek Canyon and up
to the cave.
2) Building a large parking lot.
3) Building a new ticket office/gift shop near the cave entrance.
4) Landscaping the immediate area surrounding the cave.
Improvements to the cave included:
1) A manmade entrance tunnel that was created to replace the spiral
path and steps that led down the "old" sinkhole entrance.
2) The tour route was slightly rearranged and excellent rock walkways
and steps replaced the old trails.
3) Welded pipe handrails covered with plastic water pipe were
installed.
4) The cave’s lighting system was replaced with a modern,
indirect lighting design.
During 1967-1968 the current driveway was built leading to existing
gift shop/ticket office, fill dirt was cut from the side of the
hill with a bulldozer to cover the ravine where the driveway is
now.
Jim Schermerhorn
was operating the bulldozer when the blade broke through into
an opening. He immediately stopped the bulldozer, took his flashlight
and crawled down into the opening to explore. What he found was
a spectacular, undisturbed cavern, originally called "Old
Man Moses Cave", now called "Crystal Dome". Mr.
Schermerhorn camped out at the site until they were able to gate
the opening, thus preserving this discovery and enabling visitors
today to tour a living cave in its pristine state, with over 90%
of the formations still growing. In 1968 Dogpatch re-opened the
much improved attraction under the new name "Dogpatch Caverns".
They originally planned on opening the newly-discovered Crystal
Dome Caverns, (Old Man Moses Cave), at this time but they never
finished this project.
In 1981 Dogpatch
sold the caves to a local businessman and Bruce Raney, the son
of Albert Raney, Jr., managed the caves. It reopened as Mystic
Caverns. During 1981, the Crystal Dome project was completed and
opened in August.
Omni Properties,
Inc. bought Mystic Caverns and Crystal Dome in 1984 and hired
Burt Allen to manage the property.
Steven Rush
purchased Mystic Caverns and Crystal in March 1988. The caves
were managed by Jennifer Updegraff, Steven Rush and Marcia Johnson.
On June 1, 1997 Steven Rush sold the Mystic Caverns and Crystal
Dome business to Mystic Caverns, Inc. and leased them the property.
The caves are currently managed by Steven and Brenda Rush.
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