AUSTIN, Texas — Peter Pan Mini-Golf in Austin has welcomed visitors from all over for 75 years and plans to keep doing so, despite a battle over its property lease.
The mini-golf course has a lease with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). TJJD acts as a trustee for the trust that controls the land, with the owners of Peter Pan Mini-Golf simply renting out the property.
That lease is set to end on March 31, 2024, with negotiations set to start soon, according to Margaret Dismukes Massad, and her husband, Julio Massad, who currently run the place.
Dismukes' father, Glenn, first started the business alongside his brothers, Clifford and Jack, in 1948. It was originally called Varsity Links.
A sculpture of Peter Pan and a T-Rex are standouts at the course. Dismukes Massad said were created by her father.
"As a child, my dad would work on [the sculptures], and it was quite a lengthy process," Dismukes Massad said.
It's a memory she cherishes as she watches those figures stand tall to this day and hopes to keep them around for more visitors to enjoy.
"We'd love to just keep [Peter Pan Mini-Golf] for generations to come – in our family but also our customers' families," Dismukes Massad said.
Kendyl Hanks told KVUE her great-uncle, Jack Dismukes, helped build the course and she was devastated to learn it might be going away. Hanks grew up in Houston but said she has fond memories of going to the course as a child.
"It's sort of an Austin institution. It's hard to imagine it going. It makes me sad," Hanks said. "It makes me miss my uncle."
It wouldn't only be a loss for the family. Rose-Ann Story said she and her family have been coming to the mini-golf course for years to celebrate birthdays and go on dates with her husband. She added that her in-laws have also been coming to the course since the '70s, and she feels a piece of Austin will be gone if it were to go.
"I think it would just be mourning the loss of what Austin is and was," Story said.
Dismukes and Massad said they are prepared to come to an agreement and keep the business in the family.
"We're not planning on going anywhere, and we've got a huge support from the city," Dismukes Massad said.
"We will work with the agency as to how to proceed," Massad added.
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