Once again, Conneaut Lake Park is under new ownership and management, its future in the hands of nonprofit corporations through which local residents will be responsible for preserving it.

A group of private investors, "Property on the Lake Inc.," that bought the park for $2 million through U.S. Bankruptcy Court last summer, turned over the deed sans charges to a new entity, "The Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park Inc.".

"Conneaut Lake Park Inc.", a second nonprofit corporation, initialized by Conneaut Lake lawyer William Greg, has been set up to manage the park on a day-to-day basis.

Ever since its 1996 Independence Day opening, the park has been guided by Garry Harris, who had dubbed himself as a consultant for day-to-day operations.

Now he is on his way to federal prison this month, in order to begin serving a 27-month sentence for tax evasion in a case that precedes his involvement in the amusement park. He also faces another additional trial in Youngstown on September 23rd on federal racketeering, bank fraud and tax evasion charges, also unrelated to Conneaut Lake.

A sort of legacy in the making, Harris had said that he was planning the new nonprofit direction for the park as a way of preserving its future to counter the park's problems before its nonprofit reorganization.

The park had failed to pay real estate and amusement taxes and sewage fees charged to it by local governments since reopening last year.

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