Thing is, its not about how it will happen, its how you guys fix the aftermath. I have seen little work on improving the site in years. My advice is to keep relevant things like the plot, the map, the code, the sprites, all of it, and just get a new site with maybe a nicer forum, and easier access to a downloadable of the unfinished code.
it would both give the avg player a taste of whats to come and would give a coder something to work with. If you are afraid of stealing you could always have an application form to get it.