On October 19, 2012, KK Redevelopment LLC submitted a new proposal to reopen the park, the proposal included $50 million in startup funding and $70 million over the term of a lease with the state. On January 24, 2013, The Fair Board approved the proposal from KK Redevelopment LLC and Ed Hart to reopen Kentucky Kingdom. The park (along with Hurricane Bay) was set to reopen on May 24, 2014 with new thrill rides and a bigger water park. Kentucky Kingdom and Hurricane Bay is now open with Themeparks LLC as the new operators. They spent over 50 million dollars to bring back Kentucky Kingdom and during the first year of operation. Theme Park LLC added a $7 million roller coaster named Lightning Run and doubled the size of the water park. Though Themeparks LLC does operate Kentucky Kingdom, the company was commonly referred to as Kentucky Kingdom LLLP when relating to Kentucky Kingdom. On February 23, 2021, at a press conference attended by Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, and Louisville mayor Greg Fischer, it was announced that the operating rights to Kentucky Kingdom had been sold to Herschend Family Entertainment, a Georgia-based company that operated three theme parks. Proposed Amusement Parks After selling Kentucky Kingdom to Premier Parks in 1997, Hart began planning to build a brand new amusement park near Seattle, Washington, which was to be called "The Great Northwest Theme Park". The park was to be 100 acres and be located in the town of Lakewood. It was planned to open in the Spring of 2002. However, the project was scrapped for unknown reasons. In the early 2000s, Hart and Themeparks LLC began developing a new theme and water park, which was to be called Thrillopolis, and to be located in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's only amusement park, Opryland USA, had previously closed permanently several years prior in 1997 and was replaced by a shopping mall in 2000. The closest amusement park to Nashville at this time was Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. On June 17, 2002, Hart announced that Thrillopolis would not be built in Nashville, due to funding issues with the local government. In late 2002, Themeparks LLC did try to find property for Thrillopolis in Wilson County, Tennessee, even signing an exclusivity agreement with Wilson County on October 15, 2002. However, by the mid-2000s, plans to open Thrillopolis had been canceled. Former properties Kentucky Kingdom (1990–1997),