The mood is merry inside the wood-paneled club house. People sing along to folk songs the man in the corner strums on his guitar. A young girl dances. An assortment of appetizers and cakes sit nearby.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a party at Wonderland Estates Mobile Home Park. A celebration and thank you to all those people who helped the park stay what it is today. A park for seniors 55 and older on Maple Valley Highway, no longer the future site of 100 homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all just ecstatic we have a place to to stay,\u201d says Mae Breeden, 62. \u201cThe stress is gone about it going to be sold. We\u2019re just happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breeden and her husband Art, 67, have lived at Wonderland eight years.<\/p>\n
Wonderland became the fourth King-County-Housing-Authority-owned park in late November. The Housing Authority bought the park for $8.4 million.<\/p>\n
A light has gone on at Wonderland since the purchase. The darkness has been extinguished. The darkness that began in June 2006 when residents discovered their park was up for sale, and did not brighten when they learned the owner had submitted applications to King County to turn the park into 100 homes. Before the purchase, residents had until this August to move out.<\/p>\n
Art Breeden remembers the fear and intimidation in the clubhouse during the park\u2019s first residents\u2019 meeting, just after the discovery of an online advertisement listing the park for sale.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could cut the fear with a knife,\u201d Breeden recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut by the grace of God we made it,\u201d he adds. In the long run we made it. I plan on being here the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long run is right. It took a year and a half for residents to secure Wonderland as their own. Efforts started with pancake breakfasts, and included help from Manufactured Housing Community Preservationists, a Washington nonprofit that purchases, renovates and then operates mobile-home parks as low- and moderate-income housing. Renton Housing Authority even offered 19 acres in Fairwood in exchange for Wonderland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it isn\u2019t made out of paper and green they didn\u2019t want it,\u201d said Doug Hobkirk, executive director for Manufactured Housing Community Preservationists (MHCP).<\/p>\n
Hobkirk shares the residents\u2019 joy that Wonderland was saved. Before the King County Housing Authority offer, he says \u201cthe lights were going out.\u201d<\/p>\n
MHCP is helping manage Wonderland, along with Donna and Randy Cleveland.<\/p>\n
The park is now safe from redevelopment, but the work is not done. There\u2019s 45 empty lots to fill, vacant homes to remove, and sewer, electricity and water upgrades to make. Not to mention road work and remodeling. Not many improvements have been made since the 1960s, when Wonderland was built.<\/p>\n
The park is in the \u201cit-doesn\u2019t-look-so-flashy stage\u201d says Tim Walter, director of asset management for King County Housing Authority. \u201cThere\u2019s a tremendous amount of work involved,\u201d Walter says.<\/p>\n
Walter expects the major work to be finished in about two years. Meanwhile, the Housing Authority is scrambling to secure permanent funding to pay for the work.<\/p>\n
Wonderland\u2019s residents are doing work of their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are starting to take care of their yards, fixing their places up,\u201d Art Breeden says. \u201cIt\u2019s beginning to look like a home now.\u201d<\/p>\n
With decks, awnings and decorated lawns, Wonderland\u2019s mobiles look anything but mobile. Breeden has become resident lawn mower.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do a lot of helping people out,\u201d he says. \u201cThe best thing that\u2019s come out of this is we\u2019ve all become friends. We look out for each other and check on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wonderland\u2019s residents have new neighbors to check on. Wim, 77, and Peggy, 66, Van Hemert moved in just a few weeks ago from Wisconsin. More faces will be appearing as Wonderland gets ready for new residents.<\/p>\n
But not all those faces will be new. Some of the people on the waiting list are former residents who want to move back. But some who moved out are happy where they are.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry for the ones who did move out,\u201d Mae Breeden says. \u201cThey\u2019re happy where they are, almost everybody I\u2019ve talked to. It\u2019s not like they\u2019re real unhappy about it, but they could have stayed here and not have had their homes moved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lavonne Kofmehl is happy where she is \u2014 in a Highlands apartment with cheaper rent than Wonderland.<\/p>\n
Kofmehl, 72, moved out of Wonderland in December, after King County Housing Authority purchased the park.<\/p>\n
She was back at Wonderland for Saturday\u2019s party. She\u2019s visited several times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do miss the people here, and the community,\u201d she says. Kofmehl lived at Wonderland a little over two years.<\/p>\n
What happened at Wonderland is happening at mobile home parks across the country, as the desire for land and development increases.<\/p>\n
But not all park residents have been as successful at staving off redevelopment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to make change, a number of people have to do it, they have to bind together,\u201d says Tim Charnley, son of Wonderland resident Don.<\/p>\n
Bind together is certainly what Wonderland\u2019s residents have done. In addition to fighting for their own park, they\u2019ve lobbied for state changes. Tim helped them along the way.<\/p>\n
A sign propped outside Wonderland Saturday reads, \u201cWe Stopped Senior Park Closures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wonderland\u2019s residents stopped unwanted changes at their park. Many wanted changes are planned. But none of those changes involve the name. For the first time since the redevelopment proposals began, Wonderland isstarting to actually feel like a Wonderland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t change it after what they pulled off,\u201d Hobkirk says.<\/p>\n
Peggy Van Hemert wishes she could have helped in the fight. She\u2019s happy to call Wonderland her home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a wonderful place,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Emily Garland can be reached at emily.garland@reporternewspapers.com<\/p>\n
or (425) 255-3484, ext. 5052.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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