Taking a Whack at New Venture : Recreation: Four sisters hope their decision to put a miniature golf course and family entertainment center on Harbor City industrial land will prove lucrative.
Next to a concrete mixing tower on Sepulveda Boulevard in Harbor City, castle turrets rise over a web of streams and waterfalls.
Off the busy street, paths lead to Old West storefronts, a cannery wharf and Victorian home--all part of something that hardly fits the neighborhood of warehouses and machine shops: a miniature golf course.
Or, more precisely, the Mulligan Family Fun Center, complete with two 18-hole courses plus regular putting greens, driving ranges, batting cages, a video arcade and restaurant.
Odd as the location may seem, the mini-amusement park, which opened Sunday, is a Rolling Hills family’s answer to the flat real estate market.
Located on 15 acres near Sepulveda Boulevard and Lochness Avenue, it is the brainchild of Georgia Claessens and her three sisters, Jane Storm, Claudia Bird and Elizabeth McGovern. (They gave it the name Mulligan, which, in golf parlance, is a free drive after a poor tee shot.)
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Their father, Walter Storm, had bought the property next to his manufacturing business in the early 1960s, but the land has only been used for RV storage and as a graveyard for old machine parts, generating little income.
Walter Storm, 89, still comes to work at the business he owns, Western Brass Industries, which makes industrial parts. The sisters own Storm Industries next door, a collection of businesses that includes residential real estate development and making horse racing equipment.
Over the years, the family had planned to construct additional industrial buildings on the land either to expand the family businesses or lease it to other manufacturers. But those plans never went forward, and with the glut of industrial space built in the 1980s, they decided to take another course.
“We found, like lots of people, that this was not the time to build commercial buildings,” Claessens said. “So we went with a concept that is tried and proven in other areas.”
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Miniature golf courses are on the upswing. The Miniature Golf Assn. of America in Jacksonville, Fla., says the number of courses in the nation has grown from 1,800 three years ago to 2,000 in 1993. And big companies like Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. and the Walt Disney Co. have become interested in planning neighborhood family entertainment parks with miniature golf courses as the centerpiece, executive director Skip Laun said.
The association says it gets about 10 calls a day from entrepreneurs eager to get into the business.
“Any type of family entertainment is like a movie theater,” Laun said. “It expands during the recession.”
The city of Los Angeles found that the family entertainment business can be lucrative. Last summer, it took over the operation of Sherman Oaks Castle Park after ending the lease of private operator Malibu Grand Prix. Parks and Recreation officials said the facility had deteriorated and was drawing complaints that it was a gang hangout.
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The miniature golf course was renovated, more video games were added and additional security guards were hired. Revenue rose by 10% in the first three months under the city’s management. It generated $250,000 in profit, compared to the $120,000 the city gained in the same period last year when it was run by the private firm, according to the recreation department.
To compete with the Disneylands of the region, the Storm sisters have tried to create a park that will hold the interest of young people but not drain the wallets of their parents.
The two Mulligan courses surround streams and ponds. On one hole, players shoot through a cave where a waterfall flows overhead. Another elaborate hole challenges golfers to shoot toward a mine shaft without letting the ball drop in it.
For golf purists, there is a 285-yard driving range with 46 hitting stations and four target greens; practice greens for chipping and putting, and a retail pro shop operated by Plaza Golf of Torrance.
The Mulligan center will also include a 50-game arcade, restaurant and batting cages to make it a “one-stop shop” for the whole family, said Kent Phillips, the park designer. A go-cart track and bumper boat course are in the works.
The park is hoping to draw about 200,000 visitors a year. It plans to distribute coupons and promote its relatively low cost. One round of miniature golf, for example, costs $5 for adults and $3.50 for children and senior citizens.
“It’s hard to find a place where the whole family has something to do,” Claessens said. “Children love Chuck E. Cheese, but it drives parents nuts. They can’t get (out of it). Here, there’s something for everyone.”
Still, it’s a risky venture because it is the family’s first foray into the amusement business. The Storms have invested $2.5 million in the park.
The Mulligan center opens as the South Bay economy hobbles along and attendance at Southern California theme parks remains flat.
At Malibu Castle, a Redondo Beach amusement park that features two 18-hole miniature golf courses, 100 arcade games, batting cages and the Monsoon Lagoon water ride, there has seen a slight decrease in business during the recession, manager Jim Kelley said.
“My Dad comes over and shakes his head,” Claessens said. “It’s quite a change from manufacturing. . . . But both of our parents always encouraged us to go out and do something on our own.”
The fun center “is just a different set of rules (in running a business),” said Claudia Bird, who manages the family businesses. “But if you are real enthusiastic and believe in it, you can do it.”
