Hard Rock Park's request to convert its bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 was granted Tuesday (1/6) morning by a Delaware judge, according to Myrtle Beach., FL's The Sun News. The order requires the Myrtle Beach-based rock-and-roll theme park to turn over all its assets and records to a trustee for liquidation.

The park, which features 55 acres of rides on 140 acres of land, was said to be worth $400 million when it opened in April 2008. However, there were no bidders willing to pay at least $35 million for the park at a Dec. 15 auction.

The park, which closed and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, had hopes that the world's first rock-and-roll theme park would generate enough publicity to bring visitors through its gates.

However, local tourism officials and national theme park experts say the park did not advertise enough before its opening. Experts also said potential visitors were scared off by the initial $50 ticket price and $10 parking fee.

Financial documents filed in court show the park made $21.5 million from April through September, and it owes nearly $300 million. In its initial bankruptcy filing, the park blamed a slow tourism year and high gas prices for its financial troubles.

Hard Rock International, the cafe and casino company, had licensed its brand name to the park for at least $2.5 million annually, in addition to an initial $1.5 million fee. But the company reportedly is asking a judge to allow the park to turn over various memorabilia and release them from the license agreement.

In a recent filing, Hard Rock International said the theme park had damaged its reputation and did not live up to its agreement to thoroughly advertise and market the product.

C + P Eighty-Six Ltd., which licensed the Led Zeppelin brand to the park, said in a court filing that the company had grave concerns about the ability of any potential purchaser to maintain the high quality associated with the Led Zeppelin license.

A court appointed trustee in the case said most of the park's assets seem to have liens on them, meaning there would likely be very little left, if anything, for the average creditors after liquidation.

According to The Sun News, it is still unclear whether the park will be sold in whole to one company--which may or may not run it as a theme park--or will be sold off piece by piece.