Peter Pan Mini Golf has received a lease extension that will allow the cherished putt-putt course to stay open on Barton Springs Road through September.
The lease for the mini-golf course was set to expire March 31. But Margaret Dismukes Massad and her husband, Julio Massad, who run the 75-year-old business, said Mayor Kirk Watson has helped them secure a six-month lease extension — to Sept. 30 — with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
The land beneath Peter Pan and a site next door that housed a now-demolished McDonald's fast-food restaurant is controlled by the John C. Wende Trust. The trust was set up in 1948 to benefit the orphans of the state of Texas.
The board of the Juvenile Justice Department has long served as the trustee for both sites. However, in its spring session, the Legislature mandated that the properties be put under the control of a third-party trustee rather than the Juvenile Justice Department.
Peter Pan's lease renewal will be a matter for the new trustee, a Juvenile Justice Department spokeswoman told the Statesman in August.
Once a new trustee is tapped, "our goal is to work with TJJD to obtain a longer term, multi-year lease," Dismukes Massad wrote Wednesday on Facebook.
"Peter Pan Mini Golf is pleased to announce that our lease end date has been extended ... We wish to thank Austin Mayor Kirk Watson for facilitating this six month extension with TJJD. Thank you so much Mayor Watson, and your staff, for your support and encouragement!" she wrote.
She also thanked Watson "for expressing his desire to advocate for a longer-term lease, preserving Peter Pan Mini Golf for the people of Austin."
In August, fans launched a petition drive aimed at preserving the popular course.
"We appreciate the well wishes and show of support expressed by our wonderful fans. We are humbled by the affection for Peter Pan Mini Golf. Our sincere and heartfelt thank you!" Dismukes Massad wrote on Facebook.
Margaret Dismukes Massad's father, Glenn Dismukes, founded Peter Pan with his brothers, Jack and Clifford Dismukes. The business, which has two 18-hole courses, has been in the family continually for 75 years.
In posts on X, formerly Twitter, Watson wrote, "Peter Pan is an important piece of Austin, and I was happy to help them work with the state officials to get some certainty, at least for now, with their lease. And we intend to continue that conversation in the hope of getting a long-term solution for Peter Pan."
Back in August, a Juvenile Justice Department spokeswoman said the attorney general's office was making modifications to the trust that would enable the transfer to a new trustee. It was not known at that time when a new trustee would be appointed.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin's Peter Pan Mini Golf secures six-month lease extension