One of the latest bankruptcy casualties of the recession is the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. 
And the bankruptcy may provide a legal client for an Atlanta-area company that’s a large creditor.
On Wednesday, Ghost Town Partners LLC of Maggie Valley, N.C., filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Ghost Town listed $13 million in assets and $12.3 million in liabilities.
Westall, Gray, Connolly & Davis partner David G. Gray in Asheville, N.C., is debtor counsel. McGuireWoods partner Robert Pryor in Charlotte is counsel to creditor BB&T Corp.
BB&T, of Winston-Salem, N.C., objected to Ghost Town’s motion to approve a super-priority, secured, post-petition credit line of $100,000 from Resurrection Partners LLC. In its motion asking for approval of the credit line, Ghost Town said it wouldn’t be able to open for the 2009 season, unless it receives the credit line, because it won’t have the funds to meet payroll.
BB&T has a claim of about $10 million against Ghost Town, according to a court filing.
Industrial Service Group of Dallas, Ga., is listed as being owed $316,217. Industrial Service Group had performed maintenance work on an incline railway at the park, according to the Smoky Mountain News. No attorney had filed a notice of appearance on behalf of Industrial Service Group as of Friday.
Ghost Town in the Sky re-opened in May 2007 after being closed for five years. “Rides don’t work, costs have piled up, ticket sales fell short of expectations and there have been disagreements over the best way to promote Ghost Town as a tourist destination,” said the Smoky Mountain News, a Waynesville, N.C. newspaper. A group of investors bought the amusement park for $5.18 million.