A petting zoo with rides? Former Santa's Village now Azoosment Park
When April Matter was a kid she went to Santa's Village every year. Her two daughters, ages 4 and 5, weren't born yet when the East Dundee amusement park closed in 2005, but on Thursday they got a second chance to visit their mother's childhood haunt.
The newly renovated "Azoosment Park," owned by Jason Sierpien and his wife Amy, will hold a grand opening in April but welcomed customers with several rides and much of its zoo this week.
"I was really happy to see that when I came in it wasn't completely different," Matter said. "You still remember that it's Santa's Village."
The nostalgia is not lost on Sierpien, who got his first job at Santa's Village when he was 14. Many of the original buildings have been spruced up for what Sierpien called the phase one opening on Thursday, and if everything goes as planned, Raging Rapids water park may reopen next year, too.
His Azoosment Park isn't a copy of Santa's Village, though Sierpien has kept some of the highlights. Its focus is more on animals than rides. Sierpien and his wife have both worked with animals for most of their lives and have run A Zoo to You, a traveling zoo, for the last 12 years.
"There's really not too many places you can go where you can have a zoo and rides," Sierpien said. "It's double the fun."
Azoosment Park had four rides running on Thursday with a fifth on the way. The zoo is still bringing animals in but an alligator, albino wallaby, llamas and a South American raccoon are just a few of the creatures already there.
Park programming will emphasize education with an exotic animal show at least once per day and descriptions of each animal outside its stall.
Out of the 50 employees, many grew up in the area and remember what Santa's Village used to be. For Shannon Comstock, 24, she's returning to Azoosment Park as a manager after her younger years coming as a patron and then teenage years as an employee.
"It's a little weird to be back after six years but everything is working out," Comstock said.
The park will be open Thursday through Sunday until Christmas and then closed until the grand opening in April.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Azoosment Park</p>
<p class="News"><b>What:</b> A new attraction combines petting zoo with amusement park at the site of the former Santa's Village.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Where:</b> 601 Dundee Ave., East Dundee</p>
<p class="News"><b>When:</b> 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays</p>
<p class="News"><b>How much:</b> $13.50 for children ages 3 to 12; $9.50 for kids older than 12 and adults; free for children 2 and younger.</p>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=404255">Petting zoo moving to Santa's Village site in East Dundee<span class="date"> [8/29/10]</span></a></li>
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