{Kentucky}...Businessman Ed Hart says he is “close to an agreement” on securing a $23 million bank loan toward his effort to reopen the Kentucky Kingdom amusement park in Louisville. Hart has been given rights until September 30th by the Kentucky State Fair Board to negotiate a lease to operate the park, but Hart says he is waiting for the Fair Board to offer him lease terms that he can accept. He said he would be receptive to an extension of the lease commitment but emphasized that time is growing short to meet his and the board’s goal to reopen the park next spring. Hart said he would consider waiting to open the park until 2013, if the lease conditions are right. Hart previously put $3 million into the park project, some of which went to acquire land owned by Six Flags, the amusement park operator that abandoned Kentucky Kingdom in early 2010. He has now increased his equity investment to $5.6 million.
