AUSTIN, Texas — Peter Pan Mini Golf announced it has signed another six-month lease extension, keeping the historic South Austin institution open while long-term lease negotiations are ongoing.
The owners announced the extension, which will go through March 31, 2025, in a post on Instagram.
“Many thanks to our wonderful customers. Come on down and play with us! Our goal is to continue to work with the landowner to negotiate a longer term, multi-year lease,” the post said.
The mini-golf course has been operating at its South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road location for 76 years, but as the city has grown, the premiere downtown real estate it sits upon has put the family-owned business in jeopardy.
The land Peter Pan Mini Golf sits on a trust overseen by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). Previously, the business has signed multiple long-term leases, including a 15-year lease in 1984, a 20-year lease in 1999 and a five-year lease in 2019, according to the Austin Business Journal.
The fate of any future long-term deals is in limbo as the TJJD awaits a new trustee appointed by the Attorney General’s office. It will be up to that person or persons to decide the future of the property.
Public pressure to keep Austin’s historic, local businesses open in the face of unprecedented city growth has allowed Peter Pan Mini Golf to continue to stay open.
When the mini-golf course was approaching the end of its lease in March 2024, Austin residents and officials publicly fought for its survival through petitions and talks saying places like Peter Pan are a part of the city’s brand, “Keep Austin Weird.”
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson posted on X, formerly Twitter, his support of Peter Pan Mini Golf and said he was “happy to help” with the negotiations for a short-term lease, which would have expired in September before the extension.
“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,” Watson said in the post. “And we intend to continue that conversation in the hope of getting a long-term solution for Peter Pan.”
The executive director of the nonprofit group Preservation Austin, Lindsey Derrington, told Spectrum News 1 last year that places like Peter Pan Mini Golf could be lost in the coming decade if residents don’t express their support to policymakers.
“This is a pressing issue facing Austin today,” Derrington said. “We need to fight for the places we love and make sure as we grow, they’re part of our future. It should be something we can figure out.”