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RICKY WILSON / THINGS
After roughly 60 years of towering over Auckland, Santa has been dismantled for the last time (video first posted Jan 12, 2020).
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Auckland’s giant Santa Claus and two reindeer, which towered over Queen St at Christmas for some 60 years, have found a new home on the South Island.
Things understands that the festive 18-meter figure and her reindeer are ready for a new life in a Wanaka museum.
In November it was revealed that Christmas 2019 would be the last for the giant and “creepy” Santa Claus, who had earned his popular unofficial nickname due to the wink of an eye from an older version and the finger that called.
Mr. Claus’ maintenance and assembly cost more than $ 200,000 each year, so Heart of the City decided it was a “right time” for him to take a “well-earned break.”
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“We know that Santa is well loved by many Auckland locals, but sadly, for a combination of reasons, it is time to retire this model,” said CEO Viv Beck at the time.
David White / Stuff
The giant Santa Claus had been a Christmas mainstay on Auckland’s Queen St for some 60 years before his retirement in 2019.
It returned to storage after it was removed from its Queen Street home in January.
A convoy of trucks is transporting Santa and his two reindeer to Wellington, where he will take the ferry to Picton and head back onto the road to the museum. Things understands.
The city’s giant Santa first appeared in 1960 outside of Farmers at the corner of Hobson St and Wyndham St. It was erected every year until 1990, when the building was sold.
Ricky Wilson / Stuff
Giant Santa was nicknamed “creepy” due to his winking eye and finger gestures.
He moved to Farmers in Manukau from 1991 to 1995, but his seedy appearance in 1996 saw him receive one of his many makeovers.
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It cost him about $ 40,000 to get it up and running before he found a new home on Whitcoulls on Queen St. Santa was sold to the company in 2003, but gifted to Heart of the City in 2008.
In 2009, the perky figure underwent her second makeover for a sum of more than $ 100,000.
The makeover saw immobilized their famous, or infamous, eye winking and waving, and reindeer and gifts were joined.
However, in 2011 it was named the world’s most unintentional Christmas ornament on Cracked.com.
In 2014, Heart of the City decided that a $ 180,000 bill to restore the bearded man was too expensive.
Ricky Wilson / Stuff
One of Santa’s giant reindeer went down for the last time in January 2020.
But after public reaction, Heart of the City, Mansons TCLM construction company and SkyCity worked together to keep the statue in place.
Journalist Hayden Donnell, who campaigned in 2018 for the bearded man to wink and call him again, said he was “quite devastated” that Santa Claus would not be returning for Christmas in 2020.
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