Gonzmart may rescue Fairyland

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Tampa Restaurant owner Richard Gonzmart says he plans to save the storybook characters from Tampa's old Fairyland children's park. 

The life-size characters, including Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and Snow White stood through five decades at Lowry Park beginning in the 1950's.

They were taken down in the mid 1990's, but squirreled away by a city worker.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn says the city doesn't want the statues.

Some are in disrepair.

They're scheduled to be auctioned off Saturday January 14th at Manheim Auctions.

But Gonzmart says if he can't convince the city to keep them, he'll buy them.

"I will be there at the auction," he says. "Some of them can't be repaired, but there are a lot of people who want to help me. I want to make them available free for families to come and see them," he says.

Gonzmart says he remembers going to Fairyland with his grandparents.

He says the figurines, made of concrete and fiberglass, are meaningful to thousands who grew up in Tampa.

He says if he does by the figurines, he may place them outside his Ulele Restaurant next to Waterworks Park in Tampa Heights.