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In the old American Can Factory in St. Paul, a new enterprise blends artist-designed mini-golf and classic arcade games in a way that its creators hope will become a national attraction. 
 

 name is more than just fun to say: Communications director Jennifer Pennington said it's an homage to industry and art. 
 

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"The history of this building is that for 100 years it housed the American Can Company, and they manufactured lots and lots of tin cans," she said. "So our name is a nod to the building and then the history of the populist French art movement of cancan." 
 
 

You won't see any high-kicking dancers here. You will see an extraordinary 18-hole artist-designed mini-golf course set inside a wildly decorated wonderland. 

 
 
At one end there's the "Grand Slam Hole," which combines a batting cage with putting. It is fenced off on one side by a honeycomb made of oil drums cut in half and painted. The ball starts on a tee, but unlike regular golf this one uses a Tee-ball tee. 
 

"We also might be having people wear baseball helmets when they do that hole," said Pennington.  
 

 
There's a giant pink woolly mammoth serving as one hole. Then comes an ornate scene of domestic tranquility. 
 
 

"It's called 'Grandma's Living Room,'" said Pennington. "And it'll be like putting through your grandma's 1970s living room."  The hole was made by a set designer and is filled with more knick-knacks than you can shake a club at.
 
 

There are huge structures of stone and rebar, a living tree growing through a chain-link fence, and a giant frog with a tongue up which players must putt balls. There's a river designed with eddies to capture balls swept away in the current. There's even a hole made from hollowed-out tree branches.


 
And then there's "Natural Disaster." It features a tornado that you have avoid, and then ....
 


"You putt into this loop-the-loop and it goes over the water, and you have to time it just right, because there's sharks leaping out of the river, because ... why not?" Pennington said with a laugh. 

Can Can Wonderland officially opens Thursday. But it's taken about five years to get to this point. Pennington's husband, Chris, is Can Can Wonderland's creative director. He said the idea was to have fun, but also to help artists, by bringing arts to the masses.
 

 
"There's so many artists leaving art school trying to sell $10,000 paintings to, like, the 3,000 people who buy them," he said. "I don't know those guys, but I do know a lot of other people who might want to spend $10 or $20." 
 

Take a 360 video tour of Can Can Wonderland


 
And with that money, people can immerse themselves in worlds created by many artists. Originally, the Penningtons thought about an outdoor course, like the Walker Art Center's. Then the advantages of building inside to avoid the extremes of the Minnesota climate took hold, as did other realities. 
 

 
"Calculating!" rumbled Pennington in his best robotic voice. "We can only fit 60 people through the course an hour. OK! Crunch the numbers! How do we make the money? We need alcohol. We are not going to make our rent if we don't have alcohol. Well, now we need food!" Pennington lapsed into calculating noises. "I mean, WOW!" 
 
 

The mini-golf course expanded to include a bar and a counter-service restaurant with full kitchen. They added two performance spaces where they will present everything from variety shows and improv comedy to Saturday morning children's art classes, from bingo to amateur wrestling. There is also an army of ancient arcade games, restored and ready to go. Pennington sees potential for the artists to adapt some of those too.
 
 

"If you can make a piece of art that you put a dollar in, and it does a little thing and you have a little bit of  joy, you might end up making your $10,000 that year, but  you just made 10,000 people happy," he said.
 

 
There are hard numbers behind this. Rob Clapp is Can Can's chief financial officer. He's a commercial real estate broker. He suggested the American Can Building to the Penningtons. He says he liked the Can Can idea so much he signed on. He says it can't be replicated by other business models. It's built on the people involved and their connections.
 
 

"Also the ability to be family-friendly during the day and more adult-focused in the evenings,"   Clapp added.
 

 
Artist Jason Quick designed and built the "Music Mountain" hole. It's an amazing structure that reaches close to the ceiling, stuffed with bits of old musical instruments. He said it's built to serve basic pleasures. 
 

 
"Yeah, you get to scratch that itch to just launch the ball and make an enormous ruckus with wherever the ball lands," he said. 
 

 
And he scratches the itch to build a Rube Goldberg music-making machine.

755 Prior Ave. N., Suite 4, Saint Paul | 

How to find it: Once you get there, park in the lot with the smokestack — or on the street if the lot is full — and look for the red door. 


Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. until midnight


Players who are under 12 years old, ,over 62 years old or veterans: $9

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Maybe it's a mini-golf course; maybe it's a way to bring art to the masses. Maybe it's both.

Can Can Wonderland wants to putt-putt St. Paul on the map

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