By Jane Smith
4/25/06 — The public should know by Friday if Conneaut Lake Park will open as planned on Memorial Day weekend.
Park officials expect a judge to rule by then on a plan that will allow the park to sell three acres with frontage on the lake. With permission to conduct a sale, the park will seek a $250,000 loan secured by the future proceeds of the land sale.
Without the loan, the park’s court-appointed overseer, LeRoy Stearns, said park officials will have no choice but to ponder questions like: “How much can we open? Can we open? Can we extend the opening (date)?”
Stearns sought approval for the sale/loan concept Monday from Crawford County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anthony Vardaro, who delayed a ruling while he considers objections raised at the hearing.
Stearns anticipates sale of the land may generate enough cash to pay off the park’s entire $1.9 million debt, which was amassed by its previous owners and operators.
The land that Stearns wants to sell includes the site of the former Flynn House and the 1845 McClure farmhouse, which is now little more than a dilapidated hulk.
He said the sale would include three properties with 999-year leases. The developer who purchases the property would become the new landlord, Stearns said.
Under the leases, which are common in the residential areas of the park, the property owner owns the house, but the park owns the land. The owner pays an annual fee to the park for water and other utilities and is responsible for paying all real estate taxes for the property.
Stearns is confident there will be plenty of interest in a sale, noting that seven developers have already expressed an interest.
There are no plans to sell any part of the remaining 167 acres of the amusement park, he said.
If he receives court approval for the sale, Stearns anticipates it will be July 1 or no later than Aug. 1 before the sale is complete.
Once the park is debt free, the operation can be turned over to a board of trustees — rather than a court-appointed overseer. Judge Vardaro and Stearns both said they are working toward that goal.
The park came under court supervision after the its original board of trustees was sued and membership dwindled to one. Later the park was declared a charitable trust. As a charitable trust, any sale of the public property must have approval by the state Attorney General’s Office and by the local courts.
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Jane Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at jsmith@meadvilletribune.com
