About two dozen people -- at times nostalgic, angry and enthusiastic -- attended the first meeting of the Friends of the Enchanted Forest last night at Cafe Bagel in the Lynwood Square shopping center in Ellicott City.
The group wants to find ways to revive the abandoned amusement park on U.S. 40 in Ellicott City.
The meeting last night gave some who attended an opportunity to share memories of trips to the park as children or parents.
"It was like coming out to the country to come to a park made for us," recalled Lori Pearson, an Ellicott City resident whose parents drove her to Enchanted Forest from Washington about 30 years ago. "It was special."
But for many adults who experienced the park, that feeling ended in 1989 when the park suddenly closed.
Except for a brief reopening in 1994, the park's castle-like entrance has remained padlocked. County officials say they still receive calls from out-of-towners, asking if it will reopen.
"I used to get desperate calls from mothers on rainy days," said Karen Justice, executive director of the Howard County Tourism Council. "There is a market waiting for Enchanted Forest."
Friends of Enchanted Forest was formed after a local weekly, Ellicott City 21042/3, published a letter Feb. 18 written by community activist Barbara Sieg.
Sieg, who has fought to preserve cemeteries and to ban adult entertainment businesses, urged residents to start a movement to resurrect the theme park.
More than 150 responses from people volunteering labor, money and materials arrived at the weekly's office on Main Street.
Built by Howard E. Harrison Sr., Enchanted Forest opened in 1954 -- a year before Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. With characters from well-known Mother Goose stories, it became a magnet for area children.
But in 1988, Howard E. Harrison Jr. sold the park and its surrounding 32 acres for more than $4.5 million to Towson-based JHP Development Inc.
JHP Development sold the park and the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center to Mid-Atlantic Realty Trust in Linthicum in June 1997.
Pub Date: 3/12/99