Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries has denied authorization for a departmental land transaction with a Detroit area business that was interested in developing a theme park in Crawford County. Humphries announced her decision at Thursday's Natural Resources Commission in Lansing. The proposal to purchase the land for a theme park development was first brought to the DNR in June 2006 by Axiom Entertainment.

After two and one-half years of discussion about the project, Humphries gave Axiom Entertainment's Patrick Crosson six months to secure financing for the project, with a deadline of the Feb. 5 NRC meeting. Crosson failed to secure the financing, though he asked for another six-month extension in late January, which the DNR denied.

"While the DNR supports economic development and job creation in our state, the developer's inability to secure financing and meet a six-month deadline to provide information on financing, are the deciding factors in denying this request," Humphries said. "The department performed due diligence on this project, and we are open to discussions in the future with other developers or businesses that want to purchase this state-owned land for economic development purposes, per the state's agreement with Crawford County."

Axiom Entertainment had expressed interest in purchasing the 1,433-acre parcel in Grayling Township from the state for approximately $4.4 million to develop a theme park complex. In 2000, the DNR entered an agreement with the Crawford County Economic Development Partnership and Grayling Township to market the property for economic development.

Now that the transaction with Axiom has been denied by Humphries, the property remains available for future economic development purposes. Interested parties should contact the DNR's Office of Land and Facilities for further information about the property at (517) 241-4370.