Though speaker after speaker asked it to wait, the board that oversees Virginia's Explore Park voted unanimously to authorize what a lawyer on the park's fund-raising foundation called the most one-sided contract he'd ever seen.

The Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority voted to lease the park to Missouri-based Virginia Living Histories for 50 years. The vote came after a 30-minute closed-door meeting and two hours of public comment. Those comments followed three themes: Everyone wants Explore to succeed; the lease needs improvement; the board should postpone the vote.

Rupert Cutler, the park's executive director in the early 1990s, said, "You're on to something good here. You can count on me as a supporter of the proposed lease, as long as the lease is revised in several ways."

Cutler wants more protection for the river and the park's environment, existing structures and educational mission; the explicit prohibition of some uses; the introduction of performance standards.

"There is no need to rush into signing an incomplete lease document," Cutler said.

Annie Krochalis, speaking for the Roanoke River chapter of the Sierra Club, made a similar plea.

"The VRFA is the keeper of the public trust," she said. "What is the rush?"

Phil Noblitt, speaking for the Blue Ridge Parkway, also asked for a delay.

"I had come thinking there would be a vote next month," Noblitt said.

The VRFA had said as much, asking the state Department of Conservation and Recreation for comments on the proposal by April 19.

VRFA chairman Fred Anderson said Wednesday that he wanted to wait. He was out of state with his family when the board met Thursday.

"I understand the board members want to put this baby to bed before that," Anderson said. "It certainly was not my choice to do that."

When board member Stan Lanford began to explain that the VRFA isn't legally required to wait, Eric Swartz said from the crowd, "Excuse me Mr. Stan. I think maybe we should protect this area with what is morally correct instead of what is legally correct."

Bill Tanger, the only board member who has publicly questioned the lease, left on a long-planned European trip Thursday afternoon. Tanger said he's concerned about the process that produced the lease and what was left out, particularly the lack of provisions for greenways and boating access.

"The excuse is we can't be that specific," Tanger said. "I think they can."

Vice Chairman Ralph Smith, who chaired Thursday night's meeting, said, "Actually, I have a couple of issues I'd like to throw in there myself. But there are a lot of people involved and if we each had our own paragraph in there, nothing would be done."

Tom Brock, president of the River Foundation, and VRFA member Lanford were the principal negotiators of the lease.

"Stan and I don't like the contract," Brock said.

One real estate lawyer on the foundation board called it the most one-sided contract he'd ever seen, according to Brock. He also called it, Brock said, the best chance he'd seen for Explore to survive.

The General Assembly mandated in 1986 that the 1,155-acre park on the edge of the Blue Ridge Parkway promote tourism and economic development, spread knowledge of history, enhance and expand educational programs, conserve scenic and natural areas and preserve open space.

The park has been open to the public for 10 financially troubled years.

Larry Vander Maten and Dale Wilkinson, the man who introduced Vander Maten to Explore, have repeatedly refused to share any details about Virginia Living Histories' plans for Explore. But a draft of the lease that Virginia Living Histories drew up calls for the "development and operation of a destination resort, theme park or other attraction." The list of potential uses include hotels, restaurants, amphitheaters, stores and water parks.

From 2000 until October, Virginia Living Histories was called Western Living Histories. Its mission, according to papers filed with the Missouri secretary of state, was "to increase the knowledge of the general public about historic events of the Old West and involve the general public in historic re-enactments of early western daily activities."

That plan fizzled, Vander Maten and others have said, with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Looking for a place to build a theme park on the East Coast, he considered sites in North Carolina and West Virginia before settling on Explore Park.