"We have never seen a more beautiful natural setting nor a finer marriage of a place and an idea," the paper gushed. "It is truly an adventure, imaginative and unspoiled."
The park was planned in this manner comprising only about 16 acres, of which seven were left undeveloped. All major pipes and wires were run under the 44,000 bricks of the yellow brick road and were invisible to the guests. Only natural clearings were used for the placement of the many buildings Oz required, and, most impressively, only one major tree was destroyed on the mountaintop to make room for the park. The impressive structure of the park, along with the strict attention paid to the many details that made Oz so unique can be traced to one man: Jack Pentes.
Pentes, a young Charlotte artist and designer, was hired by brothers Grover, Spencer and Harry Robbins to develop a plan to lure potential buyers of Beech property (4,000 planned homesites) to the mountain in the summer season. The major winter attraction was a series of ski slopes at the top of the mountain. The Robbins brothers hoped that Pentes could come up with an idea that would incorporate the use of the chairlift and gondola system. Previous summer promotions including an ill-advised grass-skiing adventure had been colossal flops.
"Land of Oz is the most magical thing that ever happened in my life," says Pentes. As soon as he reached the top of Beech Mountain on his first visit that cold, winter day in 1966, Pentes had cemented in his mind the idea of recreating Oz.
"Those beautiful trees all seemed to have faces, and their limbs seemed to be reaching out for me. It was over the rainbow—part of another world," he says.
Pentes was determined that his park would be an original, and he refused to copy from the 1939 film classic, "The Wizard of Oz." He brought together a team that relied heavily on area and North Carolina talent. Not only was the Land of Oz owned locally, the construction relied on local carpenters, stonemasons and renowned craftsmen including Daniel Boone V, who created the wrought iron work for the park.
Music was written by Charlotte composers Loonis McGlohan and Alec Wilder, whose songs had been recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Charlotte sculptor Austin Fox designed the costume styles for the Oz characters. Hollywood choreographer Alice Leggett LaMar created special dances for each character. An extraordinary rear-screen projection of opera star John Richards McCrae (as the Wizard) added a touch of class to the show's finale.
Pentes' unique concepts broke all the rules for theme parks: It was too small, too high, too hard to reach. The mountain weather was frequently dreary at best. Visitors would search in vain for the Ferris wheel and the roller coaster. Instead they found a cast of characters whose mission it was to suspend belief.
But the hard work paid off. The Land of Oz was completely operational on July 3, 1970 and attracted more than 400,000 people in its first year. Almost overnight, Oz became the leading attraction for travelers in North Carolina.
Visitors to the Land of Oz began their adventure after a ride to the top of the mountain in a bus or chairlift. They then viewed items from the film, including the original dress Judy Garland wore as Dorothy, then worked their way to Uncle Henry and Aunt Em's farm. There they met Dorothy, the tour guide at Oz. She helped visitors through the horrible cyclone that hit her house, and also down the yellow brick road. Guests passed by the scarecrow, tin man, cowardly lion and wicked witch, who all performed song and dance numbers. Next, visitors were ushered through the forest of apple trees and into the Emerald City. Here, Munchkin girls dressed in miniskirts distributed Greenie Glasses, made of cardboard and colored plastic, so Oz could be viewed in the proper hue.
Inside the Emerald City, visitors could shop at the many stores for Yellow Brick candy bars and rainbow lollipops, buy Oz cream (ice cream with green chunks of candy) or just sit and relax. Emerald City was also where Dorothy and the other characters met in a grand finale to face the Wizard of Oz. As in the film, the Wizard helped each character get his or her heart's desire, and Dorothy was sent safely home in a balloon ride (suspended from a converted chairlift system) that guests could ride also. It was the perfect ending for a perfect adventure.
Oz provided summer employment for some 150 young people who worked as characters, guides and in concessions. They called themselves the Ozzies, these high school and college students who stuffed themselves into Cowardly Lion suits and Tin Man armor and took the Oz mystique to heart. Roaming their mountaintop fantasy world for long summers, the Ozzies made marriages, shaped careers and formed lasting bonds.
"There was a certain spirit that existed up there that was like none other I have ever been a part of before," says Fred Pfohl, who worked in management on top of Beech Mountain from 1970-1975. "It had a magical flavor to it and everyone who went through Oz was transformed by it. It had a profound effect on people. The Land of Oz became a part of everyone who worked there whether you picked up trash, were a performer, acted as host or hostess or worked in one of the restaurants. There was a spirit. It grabbed you whether you were young or old and I think that was the appeal of it."
How then could such a thriving enterprise take such a nose-dive so quickly? A number of theories abound, and there are probably elements of truth in each one. The tightening economy began to work against the park almost immediately. Inflation pushed interest rates high and destroyed second-home sales. Travel was heavily crippled by the 1974 gas crunch. And profits created by Oz were funneled toward other interests of the corporation such as the construction of a golf club and swimming pool. Consequently park maintenance suffered and in some cases became nonexistent.
In 1975 a fire destroyed the theater and all of the costumes and audio-visual material. The museum was vandalized and many valuable pieces were stolen. The park continued to spiral downward until Pentes was called in during the 1980 season to assess the situation and give his suggestions for saving Oz. He recommended that more than $1 million was needed to update Oz almost immediately.
The other alternative was to close down operations. The latter course was chosen and the 1980 season was the last for Oz, a season that generated only 60,000 visitors. The property reverted back to the Huffy family, the original owners of the 450-acre mountain. Oz sat abandoned for almost 10 years and became the victim of much looting and vandalism.
Marie Hopkins makes the trip to the garden several times each year from her home in Russellville, Tennessee. "It is so peaceful and magical to stroll down the yellow brick road," she says.
The realization of Jack Pentes' dream of creating something that would endure is evident in Hopkins' face when she speaks of the Oz Garden.