Wild West showdown

Thomas Etheredge's lenders reportedly are split over a new, low offer to buy Wild West World.

That split and the lenders' decision last summer to turn down an offer to acquire and operate the park has upset Park City officials.

It's time to strike a deal with the newest bidder, Park City officials say. The bidder's identity is unknown, but sources close to the bankruptcy call it a "legitimate amusement park operator."

"I think (Etheredge's) bankers are crazy," Park City Mayor Dee Stuart said.

"They're trying to cover their butts, and it's a huge mistake. Everybody comes out better if we find a park operator."

The offer reportedly grew out of the last-ditch sales campaign mounted by Grant and Bradley Tidemann of J.P. Weigand & Sons.

"I understand that the banks are trying to get out of this as best they can," Park City Administrator Jack Whitson said.

"But I feel like they better get used to this, because this is what's coming down the pike."

Also driving that frustration is the lenders' decision late last summer to turn down a risk assumption offer from the owners of Magic Springs, a Hot Springs, Ark., theme park.

The offer reportedly was an agreement to cooperate with Etheredge's lenders, with an agreement to pay the banks about $13 million -- well under the $24 million in debt on the park -- from future profits.

However, Stuart and Whitson said the Arkansas park committed to an immediate $5 million down payment, with $15 million in capital improvements over the first five years.

Magic Springs president Dan Aylward was out of town Tuesday and couldn't be reached for comment. Magic Springs isn't involved in the current round of talks, according to sources close to the bankruptcy.

But Park City officials wish they were.

"Hey, when you lend that kind of money to someone like Etheredge, you're taking a risk," Stuart said.

"But now that these banks have taken a risk with someone who clearly didn't know what he was doing, they won't take a risk with a company that's done this kind of revival twice before. Makes no sense."

Rex Reynolds, president of First National Bank of Southwest Kansas in Mount Hope, the lead bank in Etheredge's consortium of lenders, did not return calls Tuesday. The bank's Wichita attorney, Bill Sorensen, declined to comment.

Park City has a vested interest in the park's revival -- a $1 million interest in the parking lot and bridge leading to the park's entrance and the Johnny Western Theatre.

Without a sale to an amusement park operator, the city will be forced to market its property to developers, likely at a big loss.

"We're just waiting and hoping," Whitson said.

"It's frustrating for us, but the banks are the key players in this. They just need to realize that they're not going to get a lot of money out of the park unless they do a deal like the Arkansas deal.

"It's a risk, still a sort of investment, but we've all got a better chance of getting our money back."