One day after laying off its 30 full-time employees and preparing to close its doors, Conneaut Lake Park may be back in business.

The 114-year-old amusement park expects to obtain a loan today that will enable it to open for the season Memorial Day weekend.

"I've called everybody back to work. I think we're going to be all right," LeRoy Stearns, court-appointed overseer of the park, said last night.

Mr. Stearns said a lending institution that he would not name has agreed to loan the park at least $250,000 so it can open. The papers should be signed today.

The deal marks an abrupt turnaround for the park, located 95 miles north of Pittsburgh in Crawford County.

Mr. Stearns was preparing to announce Friday that the park would not open this year because it had lost a bank loan necessary to cover start-up costs.

That loan was linked to Mr. Stearns' plan to sell 3.3 acres of parkland for a condominium development. He still hopes the sale eventually will bring in $1.5 million. The infusion of cash would pay off almost all the amusement park's debts, which piled up when two private operators went bankrupt in the 1990s.

But the property sale, stalled by a fire and reappraisal, cannot be completed until August at the earliest, Mr. Stearns said. That caused the bank to decide against loaning the park money.

After a scramble yesterday, Mr. Stearns said, a different company agreed to make the loan.

In recent years, Conneaut Lake Park has been known as much for red ink as its Blue Streak roller coaster. A pile of unpaid bills include property and amusement taxes, sewer fees and debts to vendors.

The park has only about $10,000 in savings and needs more than 20 times that amount to open, Mr. Stearns said.

Among the bigger expenses are $60,000 for liability and workers' compensation insurance. Another $51,000 is needed to meet payroll, which would swell with 250 seasonal workers who operate rides and the park's century-old hotel. About $50,000 more has to be spent to prepare the park for customers, Mr. Stearns said.

This year's troubles are similar to 2003, when a Crawford County auto dealer floated the park a $150,000 start-up loan to save its season.

Juanita Hampton, executive director of the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said keeping the park open is critical to mom-and-pop businesses on Conneaut Lake.

She said it draws about 150,000 visitors each summer. Most spend money on lodging and meals outside the park.

Nadine Morgan, owner of the Parkside Motel, said the amusement park typically books family reunions that help fill her rooms in July and August.

"It would impact us big time if the park doesn't open," she said. "I'm hoping and keeping my fingers crossed."

Located on Pennsylvania's largest natural lake, the park should be a big money maker, said Wanda Ramaley, owner of the Stable Pit & Pub, a restaurant and banquet center. Instead, she said, the park's chronic financial troubles hurt the region's image, as prospective visitors are left to wonder if it will open.

"I'm worn out with it," Ms. Ramaley said.

She said she thinks converting the park to a public trust was a mistake. Even though its last two private owners failed, she said, she would like to see the park back under a private owner committed to ending the financial chaos.