Theme Park comming soon to Grayling? (DownInFront417)

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:39:59 GMT

i would be all for it

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/OPINION01/807090326

State officials have to make absolutely sure that Michigan is not taken for a ride by the developers of a proposed year-round theme park in woods near Grayling.

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission, along with DNR Director Becky Humphries, will hold a hearing Thursday about a longstanding proposal to sell nearly 1,700 acres of state forest to the developers of the MainStreet America project. You can see the beginnings of the plan for this park at www.mainstreetamerica.tv. If nothing else, the people behind it, led by Patrick Crosson of Axiom Entertainment in Rochester, know how to gussy up a proposal.

Many in the Grayling area cheer this proposal, hoping it will provide jobs and spin-off economic opportunities. But they must also recognize the possibility that Grayling Township could instead be left with a bulldozed stretch of former forest, damage to an area near headwaters of the Au Sable River, and no control over what happens to the property if the park doesn't happen or doesn't last. Anyone remember AutoWorld?

MainStreet America's marketing draft makes rather dubious projections about the size of the amusement-park market in the upper Midwest, especially considering many of region's residents live closer to Cedar Point and other parks than to Grayling. The developer's view of the Michigan economy is far more upbeat than most, too.

But some of the smaller details of its marketing draft are also telling. MainStreet America predicts 350,000 visitors arriving by train. The draft, which was supplied to the Department of Natural Resources, says, "The famous Polar Express currently stops at Grayling."

That's true only by counting the two stops in the last three years made by the coal-burning engine that was used in the "Polar Express" movie. The engine, which costs about $10,000 a day to run, generally goes out only on special jaunts arranged by rail buffs.

A Polar Express-themed train ride, which runs out of Walled Lake, has never been to Grayling, although the operator, Train Travel Inc., does have an interest in participating with MainStreet America.

Crosson notes that a railroad track runs through the property, and "if someone wants to go from Ann Arbor to Grayling on a train, they can." Of course they'd have to hop a freight car or rent their own, but, yes, the tracks exist.

According to the marketing draft, the Michigan National Guard's Camp Grayling is due to host transitional soldiers and their families, adding up by 2010 to about a million people passing through the immediate area of the park every year. The marketing plan adds, "This is not public information for obvious reasons," and Crosson declined to discuss whom he had talked to. A Camp Grayling official also declined to comment, but other marketing information about the camp is just enough off to sound alarms.

Whatever role market studies and promotions may play, the key detail for the DNR is whether MainStreet America gets financing. Crosson said he continues almost daily negotiations with financial institutions. The most recent work includes confirming that an April forest fire will not deter any of the project.

But even if Crosson gets the money, that leaves DNR Director Humphries to decide whether to proceed. The DNR generally does not place conditions on land sales, such as the right to reclaim property if an original plan falls through. That raises the specter that, if the park plan fails, a huge swath of forest could change hands again and again, for entirely different uses -- or no use at all.

Humphries' decision could come as soon as the commission's August meeting. She needs to be mindful that, for the sake of Michigan's forests, just showing her the money should not be enough. The developers have to show her the future, and it has to look more than promising. It has to look downright solid or this land should remain in public hands.