Poland Thrills as Jackson Window-Shops for Acreage

He has been called the King of Pop, the Wizard of Odd and Wacko Jacko. But in Poland, Filthy Rich will do just fine.

Michael Jackson made a surprise visit here Tuesday for what could amount to a $100-million shopping spree, if star-struck Polish investment officials are to be believed.

It seems Jackson was so taken with his rousing welcome during a concert here last fall that he is contemplating moving in--bankroll and all--and taking on Disney in the European theme park business.

Poland? Even some Polish officials stumbled for an explanation.

“He is an artist, so his way of judging the world around him is different from others’,” said Waldemar Dabrowski, president of the Polish Agency for Foreign Investment. “He is looking for a European residence, and he told us that he felt the best energy flowing toward him in Poland.”

Jackson was not talking when he landed at Warsaw’s military airport to the shrieks of schoolchildren hurriedly bused there to greet him, but his likely shopping list was already the city’s best-known secret:

* A 300-room “fairy tale” castle on the Oder River in the western village of Lubiaz, mostly known for its insane asylum.

* 250 acres of prime land, somewhere in the capital, for a “Euro-Jackson” amusement park. Jackson, who last year formed a partnership with a Saudi prince to develop theme parks, wants to create “something bigger and more family-oriented” than Euro Disney in Paris, Polish officials said. His first order of business in Warsaw was a helicopter tour of potential sites.

* Poland’s premier hotel, the Bristol. The historic establishment is for sale and happens to be next to the presidential palace, where Jackson plans to join President Aleksander Kwasniewski for breakfast today.

“Michael today is 10 times bigger than Elvis was--he is the most popular and famous man on the planet,” said Jacques Tourel, director of the World Trade Center in Warsaw, whose 10-year-old daughter presented Jackson with a bouquet of roses. “Can you imagine how many people may now come to visit [Poland]? The country can really benefit from this.”

A source close to Jackson discounted the idea of the performer living in or near Warsaw. “He’s looked at real estate all over Europe,” he said. “My guess is he’ll end up outside of Paris. I don’t see him moving to Poland.”

Asked about the theme park, the source said: “There were discussions with the prime minister of Poland. It’s one of the projects they’re looking at.”

Polish officials said discussions on the three “shopping” items are preliminary, but they were hopeful that the singer will commit to something before ending his 24-hour stay today. A delegation of city officials flew to Euro Disney in Paris three weeks ago to meet with Jackson and set up the Warsaw visit.

As the possible Neverland East, Jackson is eyeing one of the biggest castles in Europe, a 12th century former monastery near the German and Czech borders. The main building, added in the 18th century, runs the length of 2 1/2 football fields and is the equivalent of one field wide. The roof alone covers 10 acres.

During World War II, the Germans used the castle as a munitions factory, producing missiles used to devastate London. Later, it was converted into a military hospital by the Soviet army. For most of the past 40 years, it has been used to store books.

Grazyna Petrus of the Foundation Lubiaz, which has maintained the castle since 1989, said the nonprofit group recently prepared a portfolio of photographs for Jackson. Apart from some recent restorations, she said, the buildings have been neglected for centuries.

Hoping not to turn off Jackson by the immensity of the task at Lubiaz, Polish officials arranged to show him three war-torn palaces in Warsaw that have been renovated. He was also scheduled to meet with Marek Kwiatkowski, director of Warsaw’s largest public park and an expert in restoration.

Monika Kopysiewicz, one of hundreds of students who tried to get a glimpse of Jackson, said that with no big amusement parks in Poland, youths would flock to Euro-Jackson.

But “will they only play his music?” the 14-year-old asked. “I think I would go crazy.”

Times staff writer Jerry Crowe in Los Angeles contributed to this report.