Rumors of a new buyer for Ghost Town are more plentiful than the number of ball bearings on a 40-foot rollercoaster.

“You can sit in Smackers any night of the week and somebody is talking about how their cousin’s uncle’s brother-in-law is going to buy Ghost Town,” said Marion Hamel, a tourism event organizer employed by Quality Inn who has been active with the non-profit group marketing the now-shuttered mountaintop amusement park.

While it makes for good bar conversation, Maggie Valley tourism operators have had their hopes dashed so many times that a hardened “we’ll-believe-it when-we see-it” attitude now prevails in the valley.

We pulled a selection of some of the more legitimate rumors that made the pages of the Smoky Mountain News:

April 2003 — “A new potential buyer for Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley has emerged and seems to be the leading candidate,” a Smoky Mountain News article stated.

The buyer, Bob Wade, owned Stonebridge Campground in Maggie Valley and a Flordia-based resort development company. Wade put down $500,000 in earnest money, but the deal fell through and he threatened a lawsuit forcing Ghost Town owner R.B. Coburn to give his money back, although it had been non-refundable, according to the terms of the contract.

“When you are dealing with a real estate transaction of that magnitude, with employees and structures and engineering, there are so many variables that must be worked out until the deal goes through,” said Susan Tracy, a representative of Hunter’s Trace Resorts, at the time.

October 2003 — “The owner of Great Smoky Mountains Railroad may still be interested in purchasing Ghost Town,” a Smoky Mountain News article stated.

Al Harper, owner of American Heritage Railways, the entity that owns Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, had been in negotiations with Coburn on and off for nearly a year. Harper said Ghost Town would be a great compliment to the railroad operations in the region. But the recession had made investors conservative and Harper could not drum up the financial backing he needed to meet the $7 million price tag.

“Every Realtor in town is trying to sell it. I’ve got them working on it from Florida to Myrtle Beach, all over the place,” Coburn said in the article.

October 2003 — “Alderman Linda Taylor and mayoral candidate Jo Pinter say they have been working for two years on a plan to redevelop Ghost Town,” an article in the Smoky Mountain News stated. “The group says they have finally completed engineering and business plans and are now close to obtaining financing for the project and putting down a $2 million down payment.”

That financing didn’t pan out after all. But Taylor and Pinter didn’t give up and are still pursuing financial backers for their idea to this day. Their plan? Re-opening the amusement park immediately and then phase in a conference center, cultural exhibits, amphitheater and other features — all of which would incorporate Christian elements.