WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Historic theme park Cypress Gardens, which closed last weekend after six decades because of dwindling attendance, may be bought and preserved by the state, officials said Tuesday.

Gov. Jeb Bush directed Florida Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Bob Ballard to meet with park owner Bill Reynolds on Wednesday to discuss acquisition of the 67-year-old attraction through the Florida Forever program.

The 10-year, $3-billion Florida Forever program established by Bush conserves environmentally sensitive, undeveloped land, restores water resources and preserves important cultural and historical resources. It has been used to purchase land in the Everglades and near Wakulla Springs.

"Cypress Gardens was one of Florida's original attractions,'' Ballard said. "There can be no better way to preserve this piece of Florida's modern history than through the Florida Forever program.''

Bush praised Cypress Gardens as historically significant last Friday, the day after the park's closing was announced. But he refused to commit whether the state should get involved in preserving the 200-acre attraction.

"If people aren't coming, perhaps they're not coming for a reason,'' Bush said.

Reynolds has said he would consider reopening the park with government assistance, but he was certain Cypress Gardens has seen its final day under the current management structure.

A message left at Cypress Gardens was not immediately returned Tuesday.

The park, which served as the backdrop for several Esther Williams movies during its prime, never recovered from the tourism drop after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, officials said. And the fear of travel generated by the war in Iraq worsened the situation.

The economic affect of Cypress Gardens' closing will be felt immediately in Winter Haven, located about 35 miles southwest of Orlando. The theme park added about $100 million to the local economy in the 1990s, although that has declined in recent years, said Bob Gernert, executive director of the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce.

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