El Cerrito Journal

photo: Tue Nam Ton/Staff

Posted on Fri, Jan. 03, 2003

Businessman pursues sideshow sideline
By Alan Lopez
STAFF WRITER

EL CERRITO - There are no cotton candy machines, bumper cars, or pony rides. But in the back of a building at San Pablo Avenue and Jefferson Avenue, one can practically smell the corndogs and hear the swoosh of rollercoasters.

More than 40 pinball machines dating back to the 1930s, several century-old penny game machines, scores of colorful circus and amusement park artifacts, and a large detailed miniature circus scene can be found in a warehouse area of a building owned by Richard Tuck.

The mini-amusement park/museum was started two years ago as a fluke and has grown only more impressive with the help of volunteers.

"It's nothing that anyone else has ever done before," said Tuck, the 55-year-old CEO of Lander International, an executive-search firm. "Most people when they walk in, their eyes widen and they say, 'Wow, I can't believe this.'"

Tuck's project began two years ago when a detailed wooden miniature circus hand-carved by El Cerrito resident Don Marcks and his father was set up on display tables as a way to cheer up Marcks, who was going through a difficult time.

The circus scene depicts the animals, people, attractions and backstage of the real Sells-Floto Circus from the 1930s.

Tuck said he had no idea what to expect, but began inviting people over to see the circus and got the idea to set up other mini displays.

At the same time, Tuck, the president of Circus Fans of America, was collecting circus artifacts and people were becoming interested enough in "Richard's Playhouse" to volunteer to set up other parts of it.

Artists have come to paint murals; parents with their children spent a day putting together the "brick" walls in the "Dark Mystery" room that houses pinball machines and ghoulish wall hangings.

A miniature Christmas and Halloween are now almost complete and plans are in the works to create a miniature Disneyland and San Francisco.

It's all in a maze of hallways stocked with so much circus memorabilia, games and miniature scenes, that it's difficult to take in all the details in one or two viewings.

"There's so much to see here," Tuck said, walking quickly to show another part of the building. "I realize it's visual overload."

Tuck's passion for roller coasters, circuses and amusement parks date back to his childhood in when, every birthday, he would convince his parents to take him to Playland at the Beach in San Francisco.

"For a lot of people it was the most fun thing around," he said. "It was the very first amusement park in the greater San Francisco Bay Area."

For about $1,000 each, Tuck has managed to salvage a few of the artifacts from the old Playland, including a "Big Dipper" roller-coaster car that occupies a space in his warehouse.

His warehouse has been dubbed Mini-Playland-Not-at-the-Beach in honor of the old one.

Tuck's own mini-playland is all the more impressive for being in the back of a nondescript office building. Inside, the offices look like any other, though circus posters and a midway game tucked in the corner hint at what's backstage, through a door in Tuck's own office.

Coincidentally, the circus-without-animals Circus Chimera has its headquarters in Tuck's building.

When Tuck bought the building in 1998, he said, he knew he would use only part of it for his business and the rest would be a workshop, though he never imagined what it would turn into.

He was busy with his company, Lander International, which was listed in Inc. magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing companies in the country in 1998.

"Especially after the first year, the business was prosperous enough to afford to be able to do things like (the playland)," Tuck said.

But the playland's potential has led some to suggest that it be brought to San Francisco and expanded to include real roller coasters.

Tuck isn't so sure exactly what he wants to do, but he knows he doesn't want to run another business and intends to keep his attraction free of charge. He also has been working with city officials and the fire department to bring the warehouse up to code so it can stay in the city, which he favors because he lives here.

He's been inviting the homeless, people afflicted by disease and others "who don't get social invitations" for a meal and a tour of the playland. And he wants to solidify that aspect by forming a nonprofit group, closing down to remodel the playland and having a "grand opening" next year.

"Thus far it's a secret," he said. "Nobody knows we exist yet, since we haven't opened yet."

VOLUNTEER

Volunteers are being sought to help build projects at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach. No experience is necessary and children are welcome. People are also invited to take a tour of the playland, with no commitment to help out. For more information, call Richard Tuck at 510-232-4264 ext. 25.