Santa's Village evicted, forced to sell rides

Awww.

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(from the article)... The company expressed interest in keeping the park open, but he has not heard of any real plans to do so.

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Riiiiight. That low rumbling sound you hear is the engines of the ideling bulldozers parked just beyond the gate....

Real Estate Agent: "Welcome to Park View Estates Luxury Towne Homes."

Prospective Buyer: "Park View Estates? What view? Where is the park?"

Real Estate Agent: "Um... welll... we had to tear it down to build the Towne Homes. Your guest bath room is where the carrousel used to be."

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE 8/25/2006 11:24:21 AM ***

Man, that news just plain sucks.

Naughty, naughty, naughty. Coal in the stockings of all those responsible for this.

Too bad I lost Mega Millions $60 mil jackpot last night. Santa's Village would have been all mine!

And what will become of Racing Rapids???*** This post was edited by Marky Mark 8/26/2006 9:17:51 PM ***

Racing Rapids is all part of the Santa's Village complex so it will be gone as well. Not that it was that great of a water park anyway so I wont miss Racing Rapids one bit. I will however miss Santa's Village but plan to go to the auction if I am not working or out of town. Even if I dont bid on or buy anything it may be my last chance to say goodbye to a park I grew up at.

That means that some families in Chicagoland will likely be traveling to the Hoosier State either for affordable amusement park fun or for Santa in the summer or both.

If its fun for the kids without an overnight that's wanted, then IB might be a good alternative to SFGAm if price is a major concern. They also have free parking which can help pay for the gas (when compared to that atrocious $15 rate at Six Flags) and they also have a very low general admission charge for those who don't want to ride.

As for Santa Claus, I see more Chicagoans making the trip to that park in southern Indiana even if it does require an overnight stay because of distance. Maybe a lot of them will like what they find there and keep coming back in future seasons.

I hope to find some more things out about Phil Wenz who now has to find another Santa gig for the summer. I am involved with some professional Santa websites and groups and hope to find more about him there.

Speaking of Santa Claus and southern Indiana....I wonder if Holiday World noticed that there will be an Auction at Santa's Village on October 25 which is open to the public. They already have the rides themed perfectly for parts of Holiday World. Although some of it might require that Holiday World shuffle around some of their existing rides. It actually makes a lot of sense if they were to at least look into the possibilities here.

^Yes, they are aware of it.

That's too bad about Santa's Village... I was the sign designer/maker there for part of the '04 season...The brief time I was there I truly enjoyed being a part of the park's team and making my share of some of the later signs that are probably still there...Unfortunitely, since then, I've moved from Illinois back to the Eastern Seaboard, and was quite taken aback when someone I knew whom also worked there phoned me and told me the park hadn't opened at all for the '06 season... I hope maybe someone buys one of my designed signs for nostalgic memorabilia, at least...

I would like to thank all that have thought about me during the “Santa’s Village” situation this past year. I would like to make clear the following: The media has read into the situation their own spin. The only things that are being auctioned are the non-fixed assets. The fixed assets and awarded assets stay. What this means is the rides, mechandise, movable kitchen equipment, and heavy equipment are in play. What is not in play is the buildings, the name, the land, anything attached to the ground, (except for rides) historical files, and promotional files, Santa’s House and its props, the Frozen North Pole, and the contents of my dressing room are also not in play. The auction is to satisfy the debts of North Pole Corporation. Sterling Bay Companies who have control over the land and the defaulted lease of North Pole Corporation, have always publicly stated that they are looking over every option for the land and the park. There is always miracles that happen. The final chapter of the world’s first chain of theme parks is not closed yet.

Phillip L. Wenz - Acting Park Adminsitrator Santa's Village Dundee-Sterling Bay Companies