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Park News - (5/1/09) Thomas Etheredge is reported to be in custody still, held without bond, and is being charged with 10 counts of securities fraud. You can read more here.
  (4/30/09) While we don’t have any new of progress on Wild West World, the local news did report that the park’s original founder, Thomas Etheredge, was taken into custody in Texas yesterday under a warrant from Kansas for a fraud investigation.
  (4/15/09) According to this article, the new park owners have still been unable to lock down a deal with anyone that will see the park reopen this year. AHG has been looking to finalize their plans since they purchased the park in late June last year, but to no avail. They’ve confirmed that any plans to reopen the park for the 2009 season are now dead in the water as they focus on future efforts.
  (2/16/09) Some progress has finally started at the former Wild West World site as workers have started to come in and begin to clean up the grounds and do some basic maintenance work. AHG, the new owners, say that they are in talks with three groups who want to come in and bring the park back to life hopefully by late spring or early summer.
  (2/6/09) According to the local news the Murphy Brothers have dropped out of the deal to reopen Wild West World, leaving AHG Group holding the bag somewhat. It seems they are going to attempt to swing some kind of deal with one or two other operators who may be able to get something up and running in time for summer over there, but this is likely a temporary project at best right now.
  (11/28/08) The plans to reopen Wild West World seems to suddenly be in limbo as potential investors have all been frightened away by the current economic crisis.
  (11/11/08) While everyone waits to see what new developments will rise at Wild West World, the ride isn’t quite over for the old owner as all the evidence will be brought before a judge later this month.
  (10/24/08) The local news has posted an update about Wild West World and how so for nothing is being done at the site, with winter fast approaching. Apparently the Murphy’s signed the deal as they claim that they should have it ready to open by late May or June 2009 and are just waiting for the bonds to be taken care of so they can start work, which raises some new questions now.
  (10/2/08) It’s past the deadline for the deal and so far no one can confirm 100% either way that negotiations are over. According to this article one group says that the agreement has yet to be reached while another claims that the deal is done. So in the end, we’re still in limbo, the clock is ticking, and every day wasted it will get more difficult to get the park open again in time for the 2009 season.
  (9/30/08) I’d expect to hear an update on Wild West World within the next day or so as today is apparently the deadline for the Murphy Bros to sign the deal to run it or not.
  (9/25/08) The latest report about Wild West World does reveal that they want bigger and better rides on the property, including a wooden coaster, a tower ride, and a bungee jump. All together AHG is planning on spending $12-15 million to get the park up and running again. The big hold up on the project continues to be finalizing just who will run the park for the new owners as the deal between Jerry Murphy and AHG has yet to be finalized.
  (9/10/08) According to the local news the plans is still to reopen Wild West World in May 2009. According to AHG, the park will likely keep it’s western theme though no solid plans have been made yet. Unfortunately it seems the slowdown in figuring anything out has to do with the slow negotiations between AHG and the Murphy Bros, with AHG claiming that Murphy has been unable to commit to the deal at this time due to a lack of manpower to run Wild West World. If the Murphy’s don’t pull the trigger before the end of the month, AHG claims they have a few other operators ready to jump at the opportunity.
  (9/9/08) While the chaos over who finally had the winning bid to buy Wild West World is over… the story isn’t over yet it seems. Apparently AHG has a meeting set with the city today, but I’m not sure what it is about. Details about when work to revive the park will begin has also not been locked down in any way, making some worried. Hopefully more solid information will come to today’s meeting.
  (8/14/08) The new owners of Wild West World (AHG) have reported they have come to an agreement with the Murphy Bros. to reopen the park for the 2009 season. The plan right now includes bringing in at least one large coaster, a Ferris wheel and filling in the park’s central lake for use as a performance stage. The odd thing is that they believe they will try to rebrand the park under some kind of Wizard of Oz theme. I thought the rights to the Oz brand were locked up by that other group trying to build an Oz park up in Wheatfield, NY.
  (7/2/08) According to the local news AHG is already looking to hire a professional theater operator to reopen the Johnny Western Theater (which will be renamed) within the next 60 days. They are also starting up talks with various theme park operators to reopen the park with rides by next springs. Strangely enough, the Murphy Brothers have been confirmed to be amongst those they are already in negotiations with.
  (7/1/08) June has come to a close and so did the deal selling Wild West World to AHG Group of Florida who will begin work immediately on finalizing their plans on what to do with the site. They hope to make an announcement before the end of the summer.
  (6/24/08) While there is less than a week left for the Wild West World deal to close the local news reports that the official sales contract has yet to be filed with the court.
  (6/20/08) Wild West World now has a new owner in the works and a whole new plan for redevelopment. The judge awarded the sale of the property to Florida based developer AHG Group for $2.15 million (which is set to close on June 30th) who plans to turn the park into a new “destination entertainment complex” that just might include a tribal casino as well, which is really the main business focus of AHG. While their long term vision seems to indicate a possible hotel and casino project, they plan to start making the property profitable and active again as soon as possible and mentioned being in talks with some amusement operators about getting something up and running as soon as possible. Meanwhile the old Murphy Bros. plan is now the backup plan, holding onto their $2 million bid in case AHG can’t close the deal by the June 30th deadline.
  (6/17/08) Today is the day the judge will look over the various new bids for the Wild West World property. According to this article some of last week’s new bidders have dropped out and some other new ones have entered into the mix, including a developer with ties to many Indian Casino development. The Murphy Bros. deal has also been changed, as now a group of local investors have put in a $2 million bid for the site with the intention to lease it to Murphy instead.
  (6/11/08) It looks like all the fuss over Wild West World finally woke up the judge, making everything take a turn for the worse. Just as things were starting to get crazy the Murphy Bros came forward to put down an extra $95,000 to show they were serious about going through with their original and approved deal. However Judge Nugent has stepped in to bring the entire sales process to a screaming halt and will hold a new hearing next week (June 17th) to determine if the property could perhaps get more than the current $2 million range offers as well as to determine what other uses the site may be suited for other than as a theme park. He has now officially yanked the Murphy Bros exclusive deal and put the site up for grabs again, with four players now involved: the Murphy Bros’ Amusement Holdings LLC, AHG Holdings LLC, Hartmoor Investments LLC and Foley Tractor.
  (6/9/08) For whatever reason, a bidding war seems to have broken out over the former Wild West World site as two more mystery bidders have entered their own bids to purchase the property. Meanwhile another article talks a bit more about the Murhpy bid’s status where he said the delays he needed were to finish up needed paperwork for the parking lot purchase as well as they were waiting on a needed survey of the land to get done first. Unfortunately with all this new interest in the property, it looks like Murphy is likely going to drop out if the bankruptcy judge lets them enter the deal because he is not going to get into a bidding war over this.
  (6/5/08) The horrid tale of Wild West World just never ends. According to the local news the offer from the Murphy Bros. to take over the park site has fallen though due to their inability to close the deal in the allotted time. Instead the Park City Council has not voted unanimously to issue up to $5 million in bonds to another local businessman (Wink Hartman) so he can buy the park. If you think that part is crazy… then it gets better because Hartman apparently doesn’t even have any plans on what he will do with the site.
  Apparently this was an last second offer thrown in and Hartman seems to have no intention to use the site as an amusement attraction at all. However according to this article, while the Murphy’s court-approved offer is now “in default” that doesn’t mean that it is off the table. According to the city attorney, “It's like being late on your house payment," he said. "You're in default, but that doesn't mean you're going to lose your house."”
  It seems that some feel that the Murphy Bros. were playing around a bit, trying to extend and change the terms of the deal because they were the only player involved with the project, but clearly that is no longer the case. But now things get interesting… as the council has now approved the new offer, but the Murphy offer is still the official bankruptcy court approved one and still on the table as well. Time for a game of legal chicken I suppose to see who can close the deal first. Previously the Murphy Bros. indicated that they may need a 60 day extension to close the deal with Hartman can close it by the end of this month.
  (6/3/08) Despite looking like they were ready to seal the deal last month the Murphy Bros. now say that they need an additional 60 days to close the deal to purchase the former Wild West World park. At this point it’s all up to judge first to see if he’ll allow it and then to see if the banks will accept it. The reason according to the article is that the Murphy’s don’t have their financing in place yet to complete the deal.

  (5/28/08) The final sale of Wild West World has been delayed and now may not close until the end of June.
  (5/9/08) It’s official now, the Judge has approved the sale of Wild West World to the Murphy Brothers Exposition for $2 million, which is expected to close by the end of the month. The Murphy Bros. have confirmed that the park wont reopen until 2009 after they’ve had time to add rides, make upgrades and change the name.
  (5/8/08) An update about the Murphy Bros. plans to take over Wild West World can be read here. Amonsgt the other information, they mention that when Wild West World reopens it will have at least one or two coasters. Oh… it wont be Wild West World either, they want to distance themselves from what name as quickly as possible. To help the locals feel a new sense of ownership and pride in the park, they may put up a “Name the Park” contest to choose a new name.
  (5/1/08) For many, the closing of Wild West World is still somewhat of a mystery, with many assuming that the man behind it all was just trying to rip people off somehow, even though he seems to have lost everything as well. The local news has posted a story and a timeline rundown showing off the true story as to how things went so sour so quickly, revealing that the troubles started long before the park ever opened.
  (3/26/08) Spectacular Attractions (Murphy Bros. Exposition) has signed a $2 million contract to buy Wild West World. Everyone seems to be in agreement, so it’s up to a judge to give final approval of the deal which could then close by May 31st. 
  (3/3/08) Spectacular Attractions, a carnival company run by the Tulsa based Murphy Brothers Expo has made an offer of $2 million to buy Wild West World. Their plan is to drop an extra $4.2 million to reopen the park and install 35 various rides, both portable and permanent.
  (1/25/08) The latest report on the reported $12 million bid to buy Wild West World is that they are in series of offers and counteroffers to see if they can find a price all parties will agree too.
  (1/7/08) According to the latest headlines, all but one of Wild West World’s 24 rides has been sold to new owners, generating $3.2 million to go towards paying off the park’s debts. So far only the Fiesta Mexicana ride (Zamperla Sombrero) remains unsold. Sounds like lots of parks really made out on Wild West World’s misfortune since it’s impossible to buy 23 almost new rides for anywhere near $3.2 million.
  (7/10/07) Just two short months after it opened, Wild West World has closed their doors, shut down the park and filed for bankruptcy. The park was unable to sustain itself over its brief life siting bad weather and shrinking attendance levels. So far the park has racked up more than $24 million in debt.