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Felix Mussenden, who is one of the Hard Rock Park's former owners, President and Chief Operating Officer, is said to have arrived in Myrtle Beach this weekend an is touring the park as one of three parties believed to be interested in purchasing the park.
Mussenden, is rumored to be working with WET Holdings' Steve Dooner. Dooner's Las Vegas Wet is billed as the ultimate Vegas-style theme park that will be an environmentally friendly landscape of hotels, arenas, casinos, shopping and dining facilities. Las Vegas Wet will include the largest indoor waterpark in North America, a snow dome where guests can ski indoors year-round, and a destination for locals seeking either a day of fun with the family, or simply a night out on the town.
Dooner himself has worked with Paramount Parks, Disney and Universal.
Another person involved in Mussenden/Dooner team is one of the original investors out of New York. This player adds a bigger piece of the overall plan because we are led to believe that if they reacquire the park, it may include a redevelopment of the entire Fantasy Harbour area, including the current mall up against Highway 501.
We're told the Waccamaw Pottery Mall is also owned by the original investors under a separate company.
The Mussenden/Dooner team isn't the only party interested in acquiring the park. Sources tell us that Southern Star Amusement has also expressed interest and has been discussing taking over.
"Southern Star is thinking they can convince the Russians to let them operate it until they find money," our source says. "It's likely that Baker will be gone shortly. Definitely if Star gets the deal they want."
This could mean that Baker Leisure will no longer operate as the Park's management company as early as this Wednesday.
Southern Star has previously been involved in an attempt to purchase Six Flags in New Orleans. The company was unable to make a $500,000 payment in order to apply for Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds. Nickelodeon then ended their relationship to turn the park into Nickelodeon Universe.
When asked about Mussenden/Dooner or Southern Star’s involvement, the park’s Marketing Manager, Michelle Cantey says in a written statement to Discover Myrtle Beach, “We can confirm that we are at various stages of due diligence with several groups of potential investors. We had hoped to have agreements finalized by the end of January but this is a lengthy process that has taken longer than initially planned.”
“In looking back at the FPI-MBE transaction with Hard Rock Park, that was almost a four month process. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to work with us and patience during this tedious process. We remain committed to fulfilling our obligations with our vendors. With all interested parties, we emphasize the fulfillment of our financial obligations with local vendors as a key component to their future success with the Park.”
It is unclear how the area community will react if a previous, major owner returns to the park after Hard Rock Park’s failure.
As for the possibility that Baker Leisure would no longer be managing the park on behalf of the investors, Cantey says that is still being discussed but there is no truth to any rumor of Steve Baker or Baker Leisure being bought out as a minority owner.
To add to the mix, a third party from Florida is also rumored to be "the investor" the park's management team has stated it has been in talks with for several months.
Sources tell Discover Myrtle Beach that Exploration Holdings may be the long rumored group who has been trying to invest in the park back in November but Cantey could not confirm the story.
Whether any party is able to secure financing is unclear. Time is of the essence as FPI MBE is back in court on February 16th regarding a $570,000 debt the park must make. Should no investor come forward to take over the park, it may signal the park's move into bankruptcy protection. The attorney for the trustee in the case reluctantly gave the park its 30-day extension, which makes any further extension unlikely.
As for the previously mentioned opening date of March 11, it will not be the date for the opening of the 2010 season. Cantey said in a phone conversation that the date was floated around in an interview with the Sun News, but March 11 is not going to be the actual opening date.
“We are looking at late March,” Cantey said, “We have group commitments beginning March 26 which we are very excited about.”
Also this past week in park news, a Horry County court passed judgment in a lawsuit put forth by Thomas Supply. The judgment was for $4,351.63 according to court records.
Other vendors have been waiting patiently for answers to their own payment questions. Payments due range from hundreds to the thousands in the six figure range, possible even more. A sale is what all vendors are hoping for because new owners would be expected to take over the park's debts.
Many local companies were left with empty pockets from unpaid bills after the Hard Rock’s bankruptcy filing.
Some vendors continued to work with Freestyle and now find themselves in a similar position.
One vendor tells us, “I don’t care who buys the park or what’s going on. At the end of the day I just want to get paid for services rendered.”
Some vendors also tell us that they would consider working with the park yet again, if they were paid, but new work would be paid upfront.
However, should the park move into the bankruptcy phase yet again, it would end almost any chance for vendors to recover more lost payments.
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