Tucson, Arizona -
Magic Carpet Golf

Tucson, Arizona - Sphinx And The Goop In Need Of Good Homes

Magic Carpet statues: The 18 month odyssey of Charlie Spillar is nearly over. Charlie works for Valley of the Moon, a folk art attraction in Tucson, Arizona. In late 2007 he got a phone call: would he try to help save the sculptures from Magic Carpet Golf, a local landmark that was slated for demolition? [07/19/2009] Complete Story...

Tucson, Arizona - Tucson Tiki Noggin To Survive Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet Golf: The immense stucco sculptures that have awed patrons of Magic Carpet Golf in Tucson, AZ since the 1970s will be saved. [03/28/2008] Complete Story...

Magic Carpet Golf

There's a miniature golf course in Tucson with a lot of the same statues as Goofy Golf in Panama City Beach, FL, including the monkey, the dinosaur, the Easter Island head, and the Sphinx (plus some giant flowers that used to be at Goofy Golf but are no longer there.) It's called Magic Carpet Golf, and it turns out it was designed by Goofy Golf's Lee Koplin [his brother Bill and Bill Jr.] and built in 1969 and 1970. [RA: We've since heard that the statues were actually built by Michael Kautza and Andy, his brother]. The bad news is that it closed last December and will probably be turned into a parking lot for a car dealership.

Recently, there's been some speculation in the Tucson newspaper about moving some of the statues to Valley of the Moon, but Valley of the Moon is currently closed and trying to raise half a million dollars for restoration, so who knows if that's going to happen. [Dean Jeffrey, 02/06/2008]

[RA: March 2008: Word is that the Tiki head, which is about three stories tall, will be moved to the outside of The Hut, a tiki-themed Tucson nightclub at 305 N. Fourth Ave.]