Our favorite Havana District Holiday Story from a research paper by Jeffrey Browning on MallHistory.com: Buckingham Square Mall History
“On Saturday, December 13, 2003, the mall was invaded by Santacon which was a group of 40 people in Santa Claus outfits with no agenda other than street theater. After a visit to the art museum, the Santas, many of whom were partaking freely of beer, boarded their sleigh (in this case a yellow school bus sprayed with flocked snow) and headed to Buckingham Square in hopes of getting to see the mall Santa. Usually, security at other malls probably would have asked the group to leave; however, Santacon was allowed to frolic in the children’s play area called the Dickens Village. After playing Twister, riding scooters and jumping rope to the delight of the few visitors to the mall, the performers came face-to-face with the mall Santa. According to the newspaper account, the mall Santa jumped up, stalked over towards the invading Santas and asked to have a picture taken with them. After leaving the mall, Santacon next visited a topless bar. ”
We hope you enjoy these old pictures of the Buckingham Square Mall, including all of the Holiday displays. Buckingham Square guards, Buck & Ham, and all of the beloved Holiday decorations from the old mall are now safely in storage at the Aurora History Museum. Enjoy the pictures:
Pictures of the old Buckingham Square Mall by James Quirk
