Morning Call, The (Allentown, PA) (KRT)
Copyright 2007 The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.
September 21, 2007
Owner of Bushkill Park sues operator, claims site is in state of disrepair: Suit seeks $28,000 in damages, control of Forks attraction.
Tom Coombe
The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.
Sep. 21--The owner of Bushkill Park is suing the man entrusted to operate it, accusing him of breaking the terms of their lease and letting the Forks Township amusement park fall into disrepair.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Northampton County Court by Bushkill Park Funtimes Inc., claims that Historic Bushkill Park LLC has not maintained the park's rides or the property itself. The owner wants a judge to give him control of the 105-year-old park, and award him $28,000 in damages.
Sam Baurkot's Funtimes leased the property to Walter Reiss -- operating as Historic Bushkill Park -- of Bethlehem in January 2006. Reiss had been one of the volunteers who worked to repair the park after it was flooded when the Bushkill Creek overflowed in 2004 and 2005. Another flood brought more damage in 2006.
Bushkill Park, with its children's rides set in a wooded area, attracted families looking for an alternative to modern amusement parks with large crowds and daredevil rides.
According to the lawsuit, Reiss breached the lease in several ways, including failing to maintain the park or repair rides, failing to mow the lawn or pay utility bills. The suit also said he owes $16,000 in rent, having not paid that bill in the months of May, June, July and August.
Reiss said Thursday he plans to file his own lawsuit against the owner, alleging he was defrauded. According to Reiss, he took on the park without knowing of tax liens against Neal Fehnel, a friend of park owner Baurkot and a one-time president of the park corporation.
Because of those liens, Reiss said, he was unable to convince investors to put their money into the park. Without their money, the park -- which operated at a loss throughout the summer of 2006 and didn't reopen at all in 2007 -- fell on hard times, Reiss said.
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