Mulligan Family Fun Center, which has made memories for a generation of South Bay residents — with its twin miniature golf courses, go-kart tracks and other attractions — will close its doors early next year so the 6-acre lot can be sold and redeveloped.
The eventual sale will also include an adjacent 1-acre lot that houses a defunct cement plant. Proceeds from selling the center, surrounded by large industrial buildings, will settle the estate of owner Georgia Claessens, who founded the small amusement park in 1993, on Sepulveda Boulevard, just outside Torrance.
The longtime resident of Rolling Hills, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, died in 2016, following a horse riding accident, according to her Daily Breeze obituary. She was 60.
Mulligan Family Fun Center, with its twin miniature golf courses, go kart tracks and other attractions on a six-acre Sepulveda Boulevard site in Lomita, as seen on Friday, November 15, 2019, will close its doors in February so the lot can be sold and redeveloped.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Mulligan Family Fun Center, with its twin miniature golf courses, go kart tracks and other attractions on a six-acre Sepulveda Boulevard site in Lomita, as seen on Friday, November 15, 2019, will close its doors in February so the lot can be sold and redeveloped.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
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Ernesto Alonso is in the lead on the go kart race track at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Mulligan Family Fun Center, with its twin miniature golf courses, go kart tracks and other attractions on a six-acre Sepulveda Boulevard site in Lomita, as seen on Friday, November 15, 2019, will close its doors in February so the lot can be sold and redeveloped.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Mulligan Family Fun Center, with its twin miniature golf courses, go kart tracks and other attractions on a six-acre Sepulveda Boulevard site in Lomita, as seen on Friday, November 15, 2019, will close its doors in February so the lot can be sold and redeveloped.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Jordan Trujillo and Thomy Spinett used to play at Mulligan Family Fun Center as kids and have returned for a round of miniature golf on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Billy Britt and his sons Billy III, 4, and Ellis, 2, play racing games at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Billy Britt and his sons Billy III, 4, and Ellis, 2, play racing games at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Jordan Trujillo and Thomy Spinett used to play at Mulligan Family Fun Center as kids and have returned for a round of miniature golf on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Tony Anderson has fun racing his go kart with his daughter Olivia, 7, at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Tony Anderson and his daughter Olivia, 7, are trying to catch up with mom, Cherreby Anderson, at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Veronica Camacha hits some balls in the batting cage at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Ernesto Alonso hits some balls in the batting cage at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Billy Britt and his son Billy III, 4, race their go kart at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Billy Britt and his sons Billy III, 4, and Ellis, 2, play racing games at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Ernesto Alonso and Veronica Camacha race their go karts at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Ernesto Alonso plays some games at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Ernesto Alonso and Veronica Camacha race their go karts at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Ernesto Alonso hits some balls in the batting cage at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Jordan Trujillo and Thomy Spinett used to play at Mulligan Family Fun Center as kids and have returned for a round of miniature golf on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Vicki Anderson has fun racing her go kart with her granddaughter Kendall, 4, at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Ernesto Alonso and Veronica Camacha race their go karts at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Ernesto Alonso and Veronica Camacha hit some balls in the batting cage at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Tony Anderson and his daughters Olivia, 4, and Kendall, 7, play a round of round miniature golf at Mulligan Family Fun Center on Friday, November 15, 2019.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Mulligan Family Fun Center, with its twin miniature golf courses, go kart tracks and other attractions on a six-acre Sepulveda Boulevard site in Lomita, as seen on Friday, November 15, 2019, will close its doors in February so the lot can be sold and redeveloped.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
“Her passion was making people smile,” reads an announcement posted on Torrance.MulliganFun.com. “So she sought the perfect business in which to do that.”
“It has been a challenge to say the least without her,” it continues. “Without her vision and love for the industry, it simply is not tenable to continue operating the Torrance Fun Center.”
The last day of operation for Mulligan, tucked just inside the Los Angeles city limits despite its Torrance address, will be Feb. 17, the announcement said.
About 75 full- and part-time employees will lose their jobs, including many who are working for the first time, said Robert Thomas, president of the Mulligan Family Fun Center. The company will work hard to relocate many to other positions at similar amusement parks in the close-knit industry, he said.
The announcement was also posted on the Mulligan Family Fun Center’s Facebook page last month and has generated more than 1,300 comments from longtime customers who celebrated birthdays and other occasions there, Thomas said.
“My first job and met my wife working there,” wrote Angel Jose Meza. “Nine years later, we’re married and have a baby girl.
“Unforgettable coworkers and great memories, thank you, Mulligan,” he added. “We’ll stop by to say goodbye.”
Paul and Sarah Jomo simply said: “Wow.”
“I appreciate the memories,” the couple wrote. “My pops would bring me there all the time as a kid for games and batting cages. My first-ever job was Mulligan. Very said to see you guys go. A lot of kids will never realize what they’re losing out on.”
Many of those who commented incorrectly assumed the family fun center was unable to compete with popular indoor high-tech arcades that also operate as bars and restaurants, such as Dave & Buster’s at nearby Del Amo Fashion Center or John’s Incredible Pizza, which recently opened at Carson Town Center in the site of a former Kmart.
Those joints have upped the competition for the likes of Mulligan, Thomas acknowledged, but business is actually doing fine.
Mulligan is largely outdoors, except for the amusement arcade, which people enjoy, Thomas said. And inter-generational activities at the fun center are emphasized, like miniature golf, where 70-year-old grandparents can play on an equal and fun footing with their young grandchildren.
“We try to make sure all of our attractions are things families can do together,” Thomas said.
That atmosphere has helped create the affectionate nostalgia reflected in the Facebook page comments, he said, something he understands personally, too.
Thomas started out as the South Bay amusement park’s general manager almost 20 years ago before rising to become company president.
A similar fun centers bearing the same name opened in Murrieta in 1996, and the company acquired another such facility in Palmdale in 2005. Both of those will remain open.
But the one in the South Bay came first.
Claessens was the daughter of Walter Storm, founder of prominent South Bay real estate development company Storm Properties.
The firm built many of the large industrial buildings surrounding the family fun center, as well as retail properties such as Storm Plaza, just down the street at Normandie Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard.
The Storm family initially used the tract on which Mulligan Family Fun Center now sits to store recreational vehicles. But then Claessens had the idea of opening a modest amusement park, Thomas said.
“She basically planned to put in a driving range,” he said. “We were very famous for our driving range, which closed in 2007.”
The 3-acre site now houses industrial buildings.
Over the years, the fun center added other attractions, including the 24-vest Lazertag arena that opened in 2003 and a 1,000-foot go-kart track that now has electric vehicles. The two miniature golf courses remain the most popular attractions.
And come early next year, it will all be gone.
Many of those who commented on Facebook, said they planned to return, at least one final time.
“It was nice to know we created so many memories,” Thomas said. “That’s what we sell — memories.
“It’s nice to know that,” he added, “we did a pretty decent job.”
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