Have you heard that Larry H. Miller plans to build a Six Flags amusement park in Tooele County?
Well, someone lied to you.
It probably wasn't an intentional lie. The rumor has been flying around the county for weeks. It picked up steam in recent days in the wake of a land purchase by Miller, the businessman behind the Utah Jazz, more than 40 car dealerships across the West and the new Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele County. But officials say the amusement park is not coming.
"There's no plans at all," Six Flags spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said Tuesday from the company's corporate offices in New York City.
She said the company, which runs 30 theme parks throughout North America, does not expect to expand to any new locations in the near future.
Tooele County officials and Miller's office had heard the rumors but also said there are no plans for an amusement park.
"I haven't heard anything factual about it," County Commissioner Dennis Rockwell said.
A spokeswoman for Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment said the same thing.
On a comment board at ksl.com, several users have written posts comparing and contrasting the rumors — that Tooele County won a bid for the new park, that Miller and the county were negotiating with Six Flags to secure plans, that details are still being worked out.
Rockwell believes the gossip has intensified because Miller bought land around his new motorsports park as "a buffer zone," perhaps for parking big rigs that come to the park's large-scale racing events. Someone, somewhere, likely heard about the land deal and jumped to a conclusion.
E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com