The owners of Weeki Wachee Springs want to give their pre-Disney tourist attraction to the state, making it a new Florida State Park.
State officials are still working out exactly how they would run or pay for the park. They would tear down a controversial slide. They may tinker with the riverboat ride. But the mermaids would stay.
"Excellent," said Gov. Charlie Crist, who presided over the Florida Cabinet meeting Tuesday where the potential deal was disclosed.
An agreement could resolve a plethora of lawsuits, audits and financial and environmental problems that have recently plagued the 60-year-old landmark tourist attraction and its owner city on U.S. 19 in Hernando County.
Robyn Anderson, Weeki Wachee Mayor, park manager and former mermaid, signed a tentative agreement Monday to donate the tourist attraction to the state by Oct. 31, 2008. But she cautioned that a final deal still required negotiation.
The state owns the land, through the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The tiny city of Weeki Wachee owns the company that leases the land from the state, and owns and operates the park. The relationship has often irked state officials, because the city's five residents -- most of them park employees -- live on the property, run the city and can tax a few neighboring businesses.