Santa Claus is coming to town, Santa Claus is coming to town, Santa Claus is coming to-oo-oo … Cloverdale.
That’s right. Jolly Old St. Nick will be at Clover Square Village at some point in December.
The iconic Santa Hut, located in the middle of the parking lot, will available for shots with Santa, but organizers don’t have all the details worked out as of now.
“We haven’t quite got there yet,” said Nikki Cooper, senior property manager for the JLL group. JLL took over from Colliers in March and now runs Clover Square Village.
“We’re a bit behind schedule at getting ourselves organized,” she added. “The schedule’s almost defined.”
The small red and white house, affectionately known as the Santa Hut, sits in the middle of the Clover Square parking lot. It’s empty most of the year, but it comes to life at Christmas with the magic of Santa. (It’s also been used in the past during Rodeo Weekend to count votes for the chili cook off.)
In years past, David Tung would dress up as an elf and take photos for anyone who brought their own camera—all for a donation to the food bank.
Cooper said Tung is no longer with Clover Square and she has no idea what format the Santa Hut with employ for picture taking this year.
“We’re not entirely sure,” noted Cooper. “David’s no longer with us, so that is not an option. But we are trying to find an option that’s going to be the most economical for the neighbourhood and for the people that attend.”
She added the hut is undergoing some renos, which is also impeding Clover Square’s plans to get the hut open.
“Our goal is not to make money,” she explained. “It’s more to be an activity to bring people to the site.”
Cooper hopes to have the scheduled set by the beginning of December, but she assured the Cloverdale Reporter Santa Claus is definitely coming to town.