Does long-lost Never Never Land have a future at Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park?
In the forest near Fort Nisqually at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, one has to look closely to see the remnants of Never Never Land, an attraction based on nursery rhymes and fairy tales that officially closed in 2001.
At 15, Brandon Mitzel never saw the attraction in its prime, but you wouldn’t know it if you went to visit the property with him.
“What do you think this was right here?” Brandon asked earlier this week, standing atop what looked to be nothing more than a slab of concrete overgrown with moss. “This was the entrance to the Shoe.”
The “Shoe” being the “Old Woman’s Shoe” slide — pieces of which can still be found on the ground from the demolition of the structure in 2010.
Dave Mitzel, Brandon’s father, remembers visiting Never Never Land in 1968 when he was 5. Many others who grew up in the area have the same memories
“It was something that a lot of people loved, and a lot of people went to it,” Dave Mitzel said. “It’s very unique.”
While some only see an overgrown forest, the father-son duo sees a whole world.
Now, they want to bring it back.
Never Never Land opens
Never Never Land was opened in 1964 by Alfred Petterson from Victoria, Canada, who operated similar attractions in Toronto and Victoria.
From Little Bo Peep to Jack and Jill and Little Red Riding Hood, the 10-acre park featured 26 scenes with figures from various fables.
The park welcomed visitors with a 20-foot tall arch of Humpty Dumpty. On the path, visitors could visit a small gift stand, play inside the house of Mary Mary Quite Contrary or Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater’s giant pumpkin. Nursery rhymes were printed on interactive signs along the way.
While popular in the first few years, the attraction was challenging to run from the start, according to Hunter George, spokesman for Metro Parks Tacoma. Metro Parks currently owns the property.
“There was constant vandalism, constant theft,” George said. “The weather was really hard on the fiberglass figurines.”
In 1985, the operating expenses became too much, and Petterson didn’t renew his lease. In 1986, Metro Parks purchased the figures and all the attraction furnishings for $42,000 and took over operations.
“We decided we’d give it a shot,” George said.
Metro Parks found they faced the same problems and officially closed the site in 2001. The figurines and the molds used to make them were put into storage in the historic pagoda in Point Defiance Park.
In 2011, a teenage arsonist set fire to the pagoda, which destroyed a good number of Never Never Land figurines. The 34 pieces that were left were moved to another storage site and only have been seen by the general public as part of Tacoma Historical Society showing in 2014.
Metro Parks is currently undergoing a process to appraise the pieces to find their worth. The molds are virtually unusable but are part of the appraisal. The plan is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“We don’t know what they’re worth — we have to determine that first and then we can figure out what the next step is,” George said.
Metro Parks wants to go through a formal process of taking the figurines out of its collection.
Once that happens, the pieces could be donated to a museum or go up for auction. Under state law, Metro Parks cannot gift public resources.
Museums contacted by Metro Parks aren’t interested in the figurines at this time, primarily due to lack of storage, said Claire Keller-Scholz, arts, culture and heritage administrator for the agency.
Still, Metro Parks staff hopes they go to a good home.
“People remember this,” George said. “It’s certainly an important part of childhood memories for folks who have lived here for a long time.”
Dave Mitzel hopes he could obtain the figures for his vision.
“Our plans involve much more than what it was,” Dave Mitzel said.
A new vision
In an ideal world, Never Never Land would reopen in the same spot at Point Defiance Park, Dave Mitzel said.
Mitzel launched the effort to restore the park earlier this year and started Never Never Land LLC.
Since July, the Mitzels have made several trips a month to the site to develop ideas. Some of those ideas are new: a large gift shop, food truck, a train ride and maybe a map app that shares the nursery rhymes.
“We have some ideas to make it more modern and more up-to-date,” Dave Mitzel said.
Still, the main goal is to restore the original sites.
The concrete slab at “Old Woman’s Shoe” is just one example of infrastructure from the park that still exists.
Hidden among the undergrowth are other key remnants: a stone well for the Jack and Jill scene. Rusty nails on a tree where a “Finish Line” banner used to hang alongside the tortoise and the hare figurines.
A mossy brick path still meanders the site.
“I thought it would be really cool to look at these nursery rhymes as a little kid because I loved those little playhouses,” Brandon Mitzel said.
When asked about what they would do about potential vandalism, Dave Mitzel said he would dedicate about $110,000 in the budget for a security guard. Dave Mitzel, who managed restaurants in the area for 33 years, said he has a budget of about $650,000 and is in the midst of acquiring a small business loan for the project.
The Mitzels have started making some of their own figurines, including a mushroom and a gnome, and have been in touch with the former creator of the figurines and his daughter.
The Mitzels also started a website and a GoFundMe to raise money. People who support the effort have signed up to volunteer their time and send the Mitzels videos and photographs on Facebook from when they used to visit.
“They want to bring (Never Never Land) back here,” Dave Mitzel said of the supporters. “This is where it belongs.”
Long road ahead
Leaders of Metro Parks have already made up their minds.
Reopening Never Never Land — in the same location, at least — isn’t likely, they say.
“We consulted with the Park Board, and we’ve determined that there’s really no feasibility on our end for operating Never Never Land again,” George said.
The agency spent the last decade working on a Point Defiance Park Master Plan, and Never Never Land isn’t in it.
The plan, adopted in 2015, keeps the area a natural site to showcase native plant species.
That poses a challenge to the Mitzels, who set an ambitious time of 2023 to start developing the site.
They’ve considered other locations, including Bresemann Forrest in Parkland, but they haven’t pursued another spot.
For now, the Mitzels are adamant that Never Never Land deserves a revival.
“We need to get back to where we came from. There are kids who don’t even know what The Three Little Pigs is,” Dave Mitzel said. “...I think if we do it right, it can be very successful.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
