By WMBD-TV
BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL – A local artist has been chosen to restore two 14-foot Santa statues that have been a focal point at Bloomington’s Livingston’s Department Store for several decades.
The statues have been in the possession of the Jeffery Alans store in Bloomington, which recently donated them to the McLean County Museum of History.
Director of Development Norris Porter said this is a special project for the museum.
“The museum is undertaking a pretty special project,” Porter said. “The Livingston Department Store was in business for over 100 years in Downtown Bloomington. From the mid 1940’s to when they closed in 1979, they used to hoist two 14-foot Santas on the top of their entry way into the building. Those Santas became a treasured part of the holiday season. It was kicked off when those Santas were hoisted.”
“It’s a huge undertaking,” he said. “But I think it’s one the community will get behind because of the memories that it brings to those that remember and for those future memories that are going to be recreated for this younger generation.”
The Santas are in dire need of restoration before they can be set out again for Christmas time. The McLean County Museum of History has its biggest object preservation ever in front of it: an $85,000 restoration of the two Santas.
It will take $35,000 to restore the Santas and $50,000 for initial site costs and ongoing care.
The two statues were built in the 1940s to put in front of Livingston’s. The former pillar of the community was set in the 100 block of West Washington Street, which is directly across from the current McLean County Museum of History.
The store was known as the “Big, Big, Santa Claus Store of Central Illinois.” Visiting the store became a holiday tradition for many Central Illinois families.
Long-time Bloomington resident John Killian said he remembers visiting the store and seeing the Santas as a child.
“Growing up in the early 1950s, coming to Bloomington was a big deal, especially around the holiday times,” said Killian. “The Santa Claus statues in front of the Livingston building were certainly the largest and most dramatic evidence of the Christmas scene.”
Killian said he is looking forward to the Santas being restored and going back out into the community to keep memories going like the ones he had as a child.
“I’m looking forward most to the fact that they are going to be preserved and conserved for future people to see the things that I saw 70, 80 years ago,” he said. “The fact that they did impact people in this community for many, many years, the Livingston Department Store was an integral part of the commerce of the downtown area.”
“I think it all ties in,” Killian said. “Especially if you look at it over different increments of time, whether its 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, or longer. It all kind of ties in to, in this case, this was an important focal point in downtown Bloomington. A lot of people focused their careers and certainly all of their shopping [here]..this is where you came and this was a decorative part of that whole lifestyle.”
Livingston’s closed in 1979 and the Santas were sold to the College Hills Mall where they were put on display for a few years until they were sold to the owner of the Jeffrey Alans store in Normal and Prairie Gardens in Champaign, Jeffrey Alan Wandell.
He has a known love of sharing art with others, as well as a Christmas spirit. Therefore, he continued to display one Santa at each of the stores during the holidays until they became too fragile for the outside elements.
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They have been in storage for some time, but Wandell had hoped to find a use for them again as well as to preserve them. After months of thinking and planning, he decided to gift them to the McLean County Museum of History.
He also donated $10,000 to kick off the Saving Santa fund, which is a fundraiser set up to raise the $35,000 needed to restore the county’s beloved Santas. The end goal is for the Santas to return to the community and to be preserved for future generations to come.
“He’s made a wonderful gift of the Santa Clauses to the museum, along with a $10,000 gift to get the fundraising started,” said Porter.
Local artist Andrew Jumonville has been chosen to restore the nostalgic Santas. He said he will be using an array of items to restore the Santas.
“There’s a lot of internal issues within the pieces, upon my examiniation of them,” said Jumonville. “There’s some structural issues that need tended to, as well as the integrity of the exterior piece. I’ll be using some fiberglass and epoxy kinds of materials in a contemporary [way]. It’s a lot of steel and resins and some fairy dust in there as well.”
He said it was an honor to be chosen to complete a project that is different than the ones he has done in the past.
“As a member of the community, I find it’s an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to participate in the community in a different way than I have in the past,” Jumonville said. “This is really touching, [restoring] the history of the community, rather than making the history of the community like I have done in the past.”
Jumonville mentioned that he will be working to make sure the pieces will last longer than before.
“I don’t believe the original efforts were thinking they would be around for as long as they have been,” he said. They need a little updating to make them survive another 100 years in the community.”
Killian was delighted to hear that a local artist would be completing the project.
“This organization is very much committed to, where at all possible, to use local vendors, local talent, and we have a lot of talent in this community,” said Killian.
Killian also said that it is important to donate to the restoration of the Santas in order to preserve history for the future residents of the area.
“I think sharing the memories is really just passing on history,” Killian said. “Along with that, you can pass on lessons learned, things to do, things than could probably be done differently. I think we have an obligation to help people coming in the future to have the opportunity to interpret these things on their own.”
If you wish to join Wandell in donating to restoring the Santas, you can visit the museum’s website.
The museum would also like for residents to share memories of the Livingston’s Santas. If you have memories you would like to share, visit this form.
For more information on the museum, visit its website.
