By Mitch Holt, Copy Editor
Vintage neon and pastel colors, looming pine trees and a 52-year-old music-loving, cigarette-smoking owner are what makes Play Faire Park a historical Abilene landmark.
As Chris “Doc” England, the gentle, tie-dye-clad owner of the park, interacts with about 15 elementary-aged children at the vintage park for a birthday party, his clutter-filled clubhouse/office attracts a small customer.
“I lost my ball,” says an embarrassed, blond-haired 7-year-old. “It went over the fence, and I can’t reach it.”
“Did you swing too hard?” England asks. The boy nods.
“Well if you’re more careful this time, you can grab another ball. Don’t even worry about it; every morning is like Easter out here for me.”
When Chris ‘Doc’ England walked into Play Faire Park for the first time 12 years ago, he knew he had to buy the run-down miniature golf course.
“We walked in, there was no music and few people, and I knew we could do something really fun here,” England said about the 59-year-old park and one of Abilene’s longest-running businesses. “But it was in horrible shape.”
As Play Faire approaches the end of its 60th year of business, England says he’s certain it will continue to improve and grow in its purpose-to provide “good, clean fun without the bells and whistles.”
A mother quietly approaches the old-fashioned register to pay for her son’s birthday party.
“I think this should cover it,” she says handing England two $20 bills.
“This is too much money,” he says. “It only cost $30.”
“Keep it; you deserve it,” the mother replies while keeping an eye on her son and his friends, Hula Hooping at the mouth of the park. “We’ll be back again.”
England bought Play Faire Park in 1994 when former owners came to him and asked him to consider the investment. But he didn’t seriously consider leaving his contracting work with his father at first.
“Then it just came to me that this is what I should be doing,” England said. So he bought the park and worked as much as he could on it while he kept his youth pastor position at St. Paul United Methodist Church.
The park has had good times and bad times in its history. During the hot summer months, former owners often hung a sign that read “It’s too hot. We’re going home,” and, at one point, they turned the park over to their teenage son.
“He did a good job for a teenager,” England said. “But people thought it was closed. It was really run-down, and we’ve been trying to build it back up ever since.”
England grew up in Abilene, was a lineman for Abilene High School’s football team and eventually attended Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo., where he played football and “fell in love with the mountains.” He lived in Colorado for ten years, earned a degree in recreation and psychology and then returned to Texas.
“I felt like I ran out of challenges there. I moved to the metro-glob in Fort Worth, and I sold wooden stoves,” he said. “But I’m not a salesman.”
So England took his business elsewhere.
He put his college degree to work and got back into community recreation and outdoor education in Denton. Soon after his transition from salesman to recreation specialist, England met his future stepdaughter, Jessica, at one of his children’s recreation programs at Denton Parks and Recreation.
“She was a 4-year-old little girl who just lived on my shoulders, and we fell in love,” he said. “Then her mom and I fell in love.”
In 1983, he married Jessica’s mother, Melanie, and turned down several job offers in child recreation so his stepdaughter could grow up in Abilene. England went to work for his father’s contracting business here, thinking he could make some money for his new family.
“I was simply unhappy with that,” he said. “That’s when the church called, and God said, ‘It’s time to go to work.'”
England left his father’s business in 1984 to become the youth director at St. Paul United Methodist Church. After a few years at the church, he left to become the director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Abilene, but was forced to resign when “it didn’t work out,” he said.
From a rough ride at the Boys and Girls Clubs, England bought Play Faire and returned to ministry at St. Paul in 1994.
In 2002, England left St. Paul for the last time to “retire” and focus on the miniature golf business, said Lisa Barela, administrative assistant at St. Paul United Methodist who worked with England there.
“Chris England has a warm personality and is well liked by teenage children,” Barela said. “He relates well to them because of his free spirit personality.”
She said the departure was good for England because it allowed him to focus more on his passion for children and recreation.
In the 12 years since its opening, the park has undergone heavy renovations, including lighting, plumbing, new greens and the addition of a neon green, Christmas light-covered stage in the middle of the park, which opened up new musical doors for England and Play Faire.
Carlos Macias, ACU alumnus and member of local band O’Scarlet, has played several shows on the neon stage and is a good friend of England. He said he likes Play Faire because it truly captures, in a creative way, the essence of Abilene.
“It’s what Abilene needs,” Macias said. “It looks kind of ghetto at first, but once you get in, you realize how much fun it is.”
Macias said he likes booking shows at Play Faire because England is “trying to make something happen in the Abilene music scene.”
“He always keeps his hope for the music scene even when people have lost it,” he said. “He’s a hard-working hippie.”
England lights up another cigarette and explains that the inclusion of live music brings in the kids and adults in Abilene who really need nurturing.
“I’ll get an adult coming in here with a stern look on his face,” he says, “and by the time he leaves, he’s got a big smile on his face. I’ll get a gothic kid in here looking all mopy, and by the time he leaves, he’s Hula Hooping and laughing.”
In 1998, Play Faire Park began welcoming local music acts to play at the miniature golf-course-turned-venue, and as time and local music progressed, England began receiving phone calls from bands across the country that wanted to play at the park.
England said he wanted to provide a place that appeals to “kids of all ages,” and the music element helped set that in motion.
Adversity struck in 2002, six years after the park opened, when five Wylie High School students broke into the park, stole money and candy from the clubhouse and burned it down. England said he was simply hurt by the event.
“The damage wasn’t completely devastating,” he said. “But it’s sad that kids would do this to a place that stands for what it does.”
Joe Mitchell, volunteer at Play Faire Park, walks up to the clubhouse and hands England a pack of Sky Dancers cigarettes and the change from the transaction, adjusting the orange cotton visor on his head.
“I’m kind of like Chris in that I don’t think kids need to be sitting around the house playing video games all the time,” Mitchell says. “Play Faire is a great place to bring the whole family and have an enjoyable time.”
Mitchell chats for a bit, walks off, and England explains that the two met when they worked for the Boys and Girls Clubs, and they’ve been friends since.
“Joe is a great guy,” he says. “He’s had a hard life, and he’s got a good heart.”
England has a heart for children and the down-and-out, evident in his career choice and interactions with individuals like Mitchell.
The Play Faire gang is gearing up for a busy fall with events taking place almost every weekend. Discounts are given to students and children, and England said his park is a “great place for dates.” As renovations continue, he said he knows he will never complete all the elements he wants to add to the park, but he can sure try.
In November, Chris England and Melanie will become grandparents. Jessica, now 29, is pregnant and due in November. England says with a grin that he’s got it good.
No caves, no waterfalls, no five-tiered greens-just 36 simple new greens decked out in aluminum windmills and other mini golf obstacles, and owner England who loves every second of it are what Play Faire Park has to offer. “We give people a place to play,” he says. “People need to get out more and play. It doesn’t matter how old you are.”
