Santa Claus will move into a brand new house in a new downtown Traverse City location next week, and The Ticker caught elves hard at work donating time, materials, and expertise to the new installation.

“The old Santa's House was in very rough shape,” says Colleen Paveglio, marketing director at the Downtown Traverse City Association. “Although we had some volunteers in the past do some repairs, we had concerns that it was not going to survive one more year of being lifted by a crane for the seasonal installation.”

Dean Adams of Bay Area Contracting is serving as "lead elf," redesigning and building the house from the ground up and procuring donations from more than 20 local vendors, including a clock from Miner’s North and a ‘North Pole’ flag fashioned by Ace Welding.

“Traverse City does things at 110 percent,” says Adams. “Every single business that I asked was more than willing to do anything they could to be a part of this project. It’s great to be a part of the Traverse City holiday tradition.”

Adams says the house will mirror a northern Michigan cabin feel, with an interior of knotty pine and forest green siding.

“We chose a shingle that’s a little different than your typical house shingle,” he continues. “They look a little more like a gingerbread house so the look keeps the Christmas magic alive.”

Adams will continue to contribute to the project in the future, vowing to give additional time and resources to maintain the house’s unique charm as needed.

Traditionally, Santa’s House has stood at the corner of Front and Cass streets during the holiday season. This year, during construction of a new restaurant at that corner, Santa will move to the southeast corner of Cass and State streets in front of the City Centre Plaza building

“The space is perfect because it is partially snow melted, has electricity and certainly beats the alternative of placing Santa's House in a parking lot, which was our only other option for the season,” continues Paveglio. “I am working with Blue Cross Blue Shield, who is going to decorate the space by putting lights in the trees and making a really nice holiday feel in the space. The Towne Plaza has been great to work with and they are excited about the location as well.”

Santa comes to town on Friday, December 6 and will be welcomed during the annual tree lighting ceremony at the intersection of Cass and Front streets. In addition to the eight ice sculptures that will be installed along Front Street for the season, local ice artist and former world ice-carving champion Steven Berkshire will be creating a sculpture outside of Santa’s new house immediately following the ceremony.

“This has really been a community effort to contribute toward this little house that brings so much charm to Downtown TC during the holidays,” says Paveglio. “We are so excited about Santa's new home and for the community to enjoy [it].”

Among those who donated to the new Santa house are Bay Area Contracting, BAC Design Group, Jones Construction, Roofer Doctors, Kingsley Lumber, Wimsatt Building Materials, Old Mission Windows, TC Insulation, Dave Williams Construction, Floor Covering Brokers, Nowak Construction, Brushwork Painting, Consolidated Electrical Contractors, Allen Supply, Miner's North, Ace Welding, Signs Now, Team Elmer's, and Michigan PreStain.