PROVO — The company that owns the Seven Peaks water park in Provo has filed for federal bankruptcy.
The filing means the water park likely won't open as a Seven Peaks facility for the 2018 summer season, according to a statement posted on the Seven Peaks Resort website Tuesday.
"The Seven Peaks management team that has managed the park for nearly two decades had recommended a reputable, experienced and well-known water park management company to operate the park for the 2018 summer season, but the bankruptcy filing by Parkprovo LLC makes it unclear what will now happen regarding management of the park," the statement said.
Parkprovo LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah.
Parkprovo has owned the water park located at 1330 E. 300 North since 2016. The business' bankruptcy attorneys did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The park has had financial troubles dating back decades, after it opened in 1989 as a resort that included a golf course and the then-Excelsior Hotel, which is now the Marriott Hotel. At the time, it was owned by Victor and Suzanne Borcherds. By the early 1990s, the Borcherds filed for bankruptcy protection.
Seven Peaks Resort said in a statement March 29 that the status of the water park remained uncertain for the 2018 season after Seven Peaks officials learned the management team that has operated the park transferred ownership to another owner in a transaction that retained Seven Peaks management within a leaseback agreement.
That transaction resulted in legal proceedings, Seven Peaks officials said, that are ongoing, leaving the future of the water park tangled.
Seven Peaks Waterpark Provo and ZibalStar LC — owned by Utah County businessman Gary Brinton — are defendants in a court battle with plaintiffs Courtside Condominiums and Parkprovo LLC.
According to court documents, the plaintiffs claim ZibalStar LC and Seven Peaks Waterpark Provo have failed to pay rents and required property taxes, including the water park and a complex of condominiums located at 530 S. 1200 West, Orem, since January 2017, resulting in amounts due of more than $800,000 for rent and more than $200,000 for property taxes.
But the defendants have argued the plaintiffs lack standing to sue because they have suffered no losses because of a $3 million line of credit based on additional collateral provided to the plaintiff.