I came across this article today while researching a future Graceland expansion. Seems interesting – Would you go to a Michael Jackson themepark? The New York Post says:
Michael Jackson’s family and owners of his beloved Neverland ranch have agreed to turn his famous home into a Graceland-like amusement park, sources told The Post yesterday.
The King of Pop’s loved ones could open Neverland to the public as early as Christmas, under an ambitious timeline set by its owners, private equity firm Colony Capital, and brother Jermaine Jackson, the sources said.
The family and developers have even agreed to consider various names to call and trademark the sprawling 2,676-acre estate. Developers went to the US Patent and Trademark Office on Aug. 12 to lodge an application, protecting several names under consideration.
The project is tentatively going under the title Sycamore Valley Ranch, LLC, which is the title of a joint venture Michael Jackson entered with Colony Capital to save Neverland from foreclosure last year.
The property was known as Sycamore Valley Ranch before Jackson bought it in 1987.
A Jackson family source said: “This is important to Jermaine — he is really pushing for this. He has a big vision for Neverland as a museum, tourist attraction and concert venue.
“He wants to put a headstone at the base of the tree that Michael liked climbing — which was his favorite spot. Colony Capital wants to open it up as early as the Christmas holidays and no later than February, but the two obstacles will be the county and the Jackson estate.”
Michael Jackson’s loved ones laid the King of Pop to rest last week in a graveyard near Los Angeles, seemingly ending hopes to develop Neverland near Santa Barbara, Calif.
But despite Jackson’s entombment almost 150 miles away, his family and developers are still going ahead with the Neverland plans, the sources said.
The King of Pop lived at Neverland for almost two decades. But after he was cleared of child-molestation charges in 2005, Jackson vowed never to return.
Elizabeth Farnum, who lives five miles from Neverland, said her neighbors don’t want any kind of amusement park that’d bring visitors to their quaint, quiet neighborhood.
The area is zoned for agriculture, with narrow roads and septic tanks — there are no nearby sewer lines — so construction of a Jacko-themed park would force huge infrastructure upgrades.
“I’m pretty sure anyone who lives on the road would say that, that it wouldn’t be a popular idea,” Farnum said. “Our experience is that a majority feel that way.”
A rep for Colony Capital declined to comment yesterday. With Post Wire Services
Recent Discussion