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Jackson’s Neverland ranch may be auctioned by court

— PHOTO: AP

Pop star Michael Jackson in this November 2007 file photo.

Finally, a reason to care about the sub-prime crisis, as one of America’s finest residential fairgrounds teeters on the brink of repossession. Sorry, kids: it seems Neverland was bought on the never-never.

We speak, of course, of the sprawling California ranch that was constructed to the exact specifications of Michael Jackson’s dreams, but which ultimately became a repository of nightmares as the singer faced repeated molestation allegations from children, all of whom were boys, all of a similar age.

He was found not guilty. Indeed, which of us can forget the euphoria, the fresh hope — the sense of justice served — attending that June 2005 day, as 10 “not guilty” verdicts were read out, and some number one fan attempted to get herself taken into care by releasing 10 white doves into the skies above the Santa Barbara courthouse. How quickly new hope turns to despair.

Today, the carousel creaks in the breeze, the zoo has long been cleared, the flowerbeds of childnip have withered and perished, and the giant clock has stopped, its hands frozen at some secret hour — perhaps that at which the master of the house decided to move to Bahrain with his three perma-veiled, Caucasian children.

And now, on March 19, that same Santa Barbara courthouse might auction the property off, unless Mr. Jackson comes up with some of the $24.5 million he owes on Neverland, which is — let’s not forget — so much more than a house.

In fact, the auction notice stipulates that the lot will include “all elevators, all railroad tracks, railroad equipment, trains, locomotives, rail cars and other rolling stock; all ferris wheels, carousels, merry-go-round type devices”. No one really gave a toss what he was doing up there, did they?

However, contrary to reports suggesting the sale is an inevitability, a source close to Mr. Jackson has insisted that Neverland will never fall.

“Michael Jackson’s ranch is not going to be auctioned off at the courthouse,” this insider tells CNN. “The financing is all being worked out. There are plenty of lenders willing to work with him.”

And were that gnawing uncertainty not enough, no one is clear on the precise legal status of the erstwhile denizens of the Neverland zoo — a whole menagerie of animals who were only temporarily taken into care two years ago after they were found to have been left almost without food. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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