Neverland Three Years After Michael Jackson

In 1988, Michael Jackson bought the “Sycamore Valley Ranch” and changed its name to “Neverland”—the land of Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up.

At this ranch, Michael built a zoo, an amusement park, a cinema hall, and many other entertainment spots. Throughout its lifetime, Neverland has hosted many people: poor children, patients, girls and boys suffering from cancer and AIDS, children with disabilities or impairments, and also many stars and well-known friends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Chris Tucker, and many others. Over the years, these people enjoyed the magic of Neverland and found their childhood again there. Unfortunately, this valuable property was attacked twice by opportunists who, through accusations against Michael, tarnished his name.

After the 2005 trial, Michael left Neverland forever and never returned. A year later, Neverland was shut down and its zoo and amusement park stopped operating. In 2008, Michael sold part of Neverland that was under bank mortgage to Colony Capital, managed by Thomas Barak. Colony Capital paid Michael’s debt to the bank and prevented the bank from selling the ranch.

A year later, a few months before the start of the This Is It tour, Michael decided to put the assets of the Neverland property up for auction. The magnificent iron gates of Neverland were removed, and bronze statues were torn from their places; signs were taken down, and everything that once stood out in that magical land was prepared for sale. Just before the auction began, for reasons that were not specified, Michael withdrew from the auction and all the items taken from Neverland were returned to storage. Michael died a few months after that, and the management of his affairs fell to his foundation.

Neverland has always been one of the concerns of fans. They don’t want to see this property sold or its items destroyed in a public auction. The Michael Foundation and Thomas Barak also share the same view.

Barak had said last year: “Our plan is to bring Neverland back to its former era of greatness. This is an amazing place. Not only does Michael’s beautiful and gentle spirit run through it, but the legacy of a thousand-year-old Indian civilization is also imprinted on it. We are restoring this place and returning it to its original form. We are, in fact, the stewards and servants of a very special place.”

Barak also said that he has no commercial plans for the property, and that it is up to the Michael Jackson Foundation and Michael’s mother, Katherine, to decide the fate of Neverland.

The truth that has not been said about Michael’s deal with the Capital company is that although Michael transferred half of the ownership of Neverland to Colony Capital, it was with an unequal share. That means the Michael Jackson Foundation has 87.5% of the profits from this property, and Colony Capital’s share from Neverland is only 12.5%. Half ownership means that neither party can sell Neverland without the other party’s consent. Moreover, Neverland is not a property that can simply be sold, because its spiritual value is more than that. Therefore, selling Neverland has never been an option for either of the two parties. Besides, Michael’s children are the main heirs of this property, and they are attached to Neverland; in the hands of the Michael Foundation, Neverland is considered a trust for the children. If you’re still worried, you should know that the Michael Jackson Foundation has clearly announced that Neverland is not for sale, just as the sale of Michael’s share in the two-billion-dollar Sony/ATV company was never a decision of the Foundation. The Foundation has stated that it is these Michael children who will decide the fate of Neverland. Considering that Michael’s three children grew up at Neverland and consider it their home, it is very unlikely that they would intend to sell it. Katherine, Michael’s mother, also wants Neverland to remain in the hands of the family.

The importance of these matters is that recently opportunists tried to deceive Michael’s fans and scam them by spreading the rumor that Neverland is in danger and it must be saved by donating money.

Fans have always looked at Barak and his company with skepticism, but if we watch the videos that have been uploaded to YouTube for some time now, we will realize that Barak’s performance and the Michael Jackson Foundation’s actions during these three years have been positive. Last year, Larry Nimmer, along with one of Michael’s fans, after two years of correspondence, managed to obtain permission to enter Neverland. According to this fan, for now the property has been turned into a private place for renovations, but workers and employees are working there. He shared videos of his trip to Neverland, which you can download below.

Entering Neverland after passing the second road and reaching the gate: DownloadLunch at Neverland: Download

These videos were filmed by Larry Nimmer. During Michael’s lifetime, Nimmer was allowed to film at Neverland. These videos were released in a film titled “Neverland Unspoken Story.” [To read about the film click.]

Inside Neverland, special hats with the Neverland logo were given to Nimmer and his companion. These hats were prepared specifically for Neverland staff.

In these videos, we can see the bronze statues that had been dug up for the auction placed back in their proper locations; the Neverland grounds have been landscaped again, and as you can see from the photo above, the famous clock is also back in operation. It seems Barak truly kept his promise and has returned Neverland to its former era of glory.

In these videos, the heavy gates of Neverland are still not installed, but this film is from about a year ago, and it’s unlikely that Neverland hasn’t become even more beautiful by now and regained its royal gates.

One point about the Neverland property is that it is located in an agricultural area, and commercial use of it—such as establishing a museum—requires obtaining legal permits. Neverland, under the Williamson Act contract signed in 2003 by Michael Jackson, has been protected by the organization that oversees agricultural lands. The term of this ten-year contract ends next year. Perhaps after this date, the Foundation will take steps to commercialize Neverland and carry out some of the promised projects, such as establishing a museum of the King of Pop’s clothes and memorabilia. For this museum, what better place than Neverland?

Source: eMJey.com / Information about the contract taken from Michael Jackson And Justice for Some blog