When the Michigan Natural Resources Commission meets Thursday to listen to the man behind a gargantuan theme park being pitched for the piney woods near Grayling, the hearing should be all about two words: Prove it.
From Rochester-based Axiom Entertainment commissioners must demand incontrovertible proof that there is, in fact, financing in place to make the $161 million development a reality before agreeing to sell 1,800 acres of state land for the park.
As of last week an Axiom spokeswoman said the firm was still waiting on potential investors -- as it has been for more than 18 months. Given the worldwide credit crisis it would be astounding if Axiom is now able to do what it couldn't do before.
Commissioners should also demand cash assurances (a $100 million bond, perhaps) that if the park is ever built and things go bust, there will be enough money to pick up the pieces -- like hauling down and dragging out of the woods the park's proposed centerpieces, such as the world's biggest Ferris Wheel, the world's biggest Christmas tree, a giant roller coaster and a WWII-era aircraft carrier.
Axiom must also offer more than vague estimates that the park will create more than 2,000 jobs, including 700 year-round positions.
Grayling Regional Chamber of Commerce officials, who claim strong support for the plan, should be asked a few questions about the depth and breadth of that community support.
Chamber officials say they collected nearly 2,000 signatures on a petition supporting the theme park, but that seems an optimistic figure -- nearly every man, woman and child in Grayling (population 1,950).
In fact, the chamber had to cancel plans to charter a bus to take supporters to the Lansing hearing when not enough people signed on.
The state has already been much more patient with Axiom than necessary. The company had 18 months to provide financials, and hasn't done so.
An Axiom spokeswoman in September said, "We are in final negotiations for the park and we are executing agreements." That obviously wasn't the case then and apparently isn't the case now. Why, then, should the Resources Commission put stock in any more unsupported claims?
The time for a final "no" is fast approaching.
Resources Commission chairman Keith Charters summed things up back in September, and nothing has changed since then: "It has to be a bona fide buyer before we'll sell the land. That's our fiduciary responsibility. It has to be with a solid, reputable financial institution ... In this case, we have even more responsibility because we're talking about land that belongs to the people of Michigan."
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