Anybody remember Lake Arrowhead's Santa's Village?

[WFChris]

Those of us that grew up in Southern California might remember seeing the commercials for Santa's Village up in the mountains. Some of us even went! They had a kiddie credit. Anyway, according to this article, it's in the process of being fixed up and is due to open this summer. Permitting in the local Mountains is a notoriously slow process around here so let's see what happens!

 

The article

 

SKYFOREST >> Flashback to spring 1955.

 

“The Ballad of Davy Crockett” was a hit song on the radio, gas was 23 cents a gallon, and the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.

 

On Memorial Day weekend, what would become billed as the world’s first franchised amusement park opened in this tiny San Bernardino Mountains community.

 

Disneyland’s opening was nearly two months away.

 

On a weather-perfect weekend, with clear skies and mountain temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, one mountain resident said the line of cars going up the mountain to this new theme park attraction — called Santa’s Village — extended nearly to the San Bernardino city limits, some 20 miles below.

 

Those days are long gone. But despite being closed for some 17 years, the village’s buildings look remarkably good, with many of its 18 structures having fresh paint and new roofs.

 

Interest in this once beloved destination is perking up again.

 

Although it has been closed since 1998, a developer wants to revive Santa’s Village and reopen it perhaps as early as Aug. 1 — with greatly updated twists and attractions.

 

EVERYBODY LIKES SANTA

 

The original Santa’s Village was “a family friendly, beautifully set entertainment center,” said Allene DuFour, curator of Lake Arrowhead’s Mountain History Museum, which is open from Memorial Day weekend to October.

 

Located about a mile southeast of Lake Arrowhead and 80 miles east of Los Angeles, Santa’s Village “was appealing to kids of all ages,” DuFour said. “And who doesn’t like Santa?”

 

Tickets from Santa’s Village on display in the Santa’s Village room of the Mountain History Museum show admission prices as low as 30 cents.

 

It was a place where Santa was equally at ease hanging out with the Easter Bunny or a Hollywood celebrity, like Alan Ladd, an actor and producer.

 

And it was a first job for many mountain teenagers. But most of all, it was a place where children could indulge their fantasies.

 

During visits to Santa’s Village, before it closed in 1998, Lake Arrowhead resident Jennifer Hosking, now 26, recalled wondering during her childhood if Santa really lived that way.

 

A few years after the original attraction opened, its owners installed a monorail ride that would later be used as a model for one in New York City’s 1969 World’s Fair.

 

At the original Santa’s Village, young and old could take a train ride through Santa’s enchanted forest, see Santa’s home, chapel, workshop and slide down from his crooked tree house. Ride an antique car or a horse-drawn Pumpkin or Cinderella coaches or sleigh pulled by a reindeer team.

 

During less litigious times, the reindeer were allowed to roam the park freely after finishing their “work.” That ended after one of them gored a child of a Santa’s Village employee, several Lake Arrowhead area residents said.

 

Among the mountain residents whose first job was at Santa’s Village is Bill Johnson, the mountaintop real estate developer now working full time to redesign and reopen it.

 

“It was a great place to get started and make a few bucks,” said Tony Crowder, a third-generation Lake Arrowhead painting contractor who operated many of the park’s rides as a teenager.

 

“Santa’s Village definitely helped the whole economy in the Lake Arrowhead area, and it introduced people (from down below) to the area,” said Gene “Geno” Fulton, who owns the Jensen’s Finest Foods grocery store chain, which started some seven decades ago in Blue Jay, near Lake Arrowhead and Skyforest.

 

“It brought business to places like Blue Jay and Lake Arrowhead. Being reborn would definitely be a big asset up here. I hope to see it reopen,” Fulton said.

 

It’s been estimated that some 5,000 people worked at the park during its four-plus decade life, many as elves and pixies.

 

A business trend

 

Several years after Santa’s Village opened in Skyforest, there were two franchise operations, one in Santa Cruz County and the other in East Dundee, Illinois, near Chicago.

 

The one in Santa Cruz shut down in 1979, while the one in East Dundee has re-opened under new management and is to start its 2015 season in May as Santa’s Village Azoosment Park, celebrating its 56th year.

 

Putnam Henck, the developer of the Skyforest community and builder of many homes there, wrote in his book “From the Memories of Putnam Henck” that Santa’s Village ultimate demise was partially because the popularity of cable television fragmented advertising programs, making it difficult to reach target markets.

 

At one time, David Nelson, son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, who had a popular TV show in the 1950s on which David and his brother Ricky appeared, produced Santa’s Village commercials.

 

Henck, a UC Berkeley-trained civil engineer, and his wife, Pamela, owned and operated Santa’s Village after the original developers filed for bankruptcy.

 

Putnam Henck was the general contractor for Santa’s Village construction and was granted stock in the company as partial payment for his work.

 

Henck died in 2010.

 

SANTA’S VILLAGE SALE

 

As the opening of Santa’s Village drew many people from across the Southland, the auctioning off of Santa’s Village items drew a huge crowd, those attending the auction in August 1998 recall.

 

“You can see mushrooms from the park everywhere in the mountain,” Crowder said.

 

Mary Hughes, owner of Cedar Station in Cedar Glen, bought one of those large concrete mushrooms for $500.

 

But even larger mementos of the park were obtained later, and reside in front of her house, a few miles away from her antique and home decor business.

 

A few years after the auction, she picked up a large piece of the roof.

 

Then about two years ago, she received a telephone call from a homeowner in Hollywood who purchased a large rooftop bell at that auction but no longer wanted it.

 

Quickly Hughes said she took the camper shell off her four-wheel drive pickup and drove to retrieve it.

 

The large bell, the rooftop piece and the concrete mushroom all have prominent spots in her yard.

 

WON’T REPEAT THE PAST

 

In an interview Thursday, Johnson said his vision for the park’s reopening as Skypark at Santa’s Village will be more inclusive of the entire family, which means it will have things for teenagers.

 

Among the teenage friendly activities will be an enclosed bouldering room for cool weather and an outdoor climbing wall for warmer weather, mountain biking, fly-fishing lessons and a trout fishing farm.

 

Another strong component of the updated park will be creation of a wedding business capable of handling up to about 500 people, he said.

 

“We are really going to take it up a notch,” he said.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

Interesting. The other Santa's Village over here in Illinois reopened a few years ago and is actually doing very well. They added a new coaster last year too.

[Jew]

The remains of the original park burned down. If I remember correctly, the old parking lot was used as the staging area for law enforcement during the Christopher Dorner manhunt.

 

I don't think this is going to happen. I think the developer is looking for money still.

[Superbatboy]

Who could forget the "Pixie Pantry" and the "Good Witch's Bakery"?

[WFChris]

The remains of the original park burned down. If I remember correctly, the old parking lot was used as the staging area for law enforcement during the Christopher Dorner manhunt.

 

I don't think this is going to happen. I think the developer is looking for money still.

 

I don't think it will happen either, but with our winters getting lamer and lamer, the mountain resorts NEED summer activities so I'm hoping for the best!