Minnesota's Judy Garland Museum fights for adjacent land

The Judy Garland Museum is attempting to save green space next to the legendary actor's first home, a white clapboard two-story in Grand Rapids, Minn., that sees more than 26,000 annual visitors.

Someone made a $125,000 offer on the small lot next to the home on Hwy. 169, listed for sale in recent months. The museum, which has long had permission from the landowners to use the space, has the right of first refusal. It has until Friday to match the offer, and about 60% has been raised, said Janie Heitz, the museum's executive director.

The land, in a zoned business district, would likely be developed, she said, changing the character of the home's surroundings.

"When you drive in, the first thing you see is this really nice green space with a 'Wizard of Oz' trail of characters and a beautiful gazebo in the background," Heitz said. "This is about maintaining the integrity of the museum."

Garland, born Frances Gumm in Grand Rapids in 1922, lived there until she was 4½, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She starred in the "Wizard of Oz" in 1939. A pair of her iconic ruby slippers are no longer exhibited at the museum — the FBI still has them after they were stolen in 2005, recovered in 2018 and revealed in a dramatic fashion by law enforcement at the museum.

But people still come to see where they were stolen, Heitz said, and those guests are among the visitors who use the adjacent land dotted with mature trees, especially during the busy summer months when people are outside for Garland events and snapping photos of the home. In 2014, more than 1,000 people dressed as "Wizard of Oz" characters gathered, setting a Guinness World Record. The lot is also used by kids on field trips to the children's portion of the museum.

A sale to a developer would prevent the museum, a top Itasca County attraction, from future expansion, Heitz said.

The museum, which houses both Garland and "Wizard" memorabilia, used to own the 27,000-square-foot piece of land but sold it more than a decade ago during a season of financial hardship. The site on Hwy. 169 is not where Garland lived. The restored home has been moved twice; in 1938 and in 1994, three years after it was acquired for preservation. Garland died in 1969.