In 1995, the owners filed for bankruptcy and the park did not open. However, by the 1996 season, a group called Summer Resorts, Inc., under the leadership of Gary Harris, completed a purchase of the park. Although Harris arrived at Conneaut Lake with a history of criminal charges, residents were optimistic that the park could be saved under his leadership. The park reopened on July 4, 1996, but new problems arose in 1997 when Harris was convicted of tax evasion. To help extricate himself from his legal difficulties, Harris gave the debt-ridden park to the Conneaut Lake community in 1997, but later filed a lawsuit claiming that he held a 99–year lease on the park grounds and retained ownership of several rides. When that lawsuit was lost in 2001, ownership reverted to a court-appointed trustee.