Nov. 13--Blood-stained elves jumping out to scare visitors with their piercing screams might not be everyone's idea of the way to celebrate Christmas, but it is the way a community group in Lombard hopes to keep teens engaged leading up to the holiday.
Lombard Commonwealth wants to extend into December the haunted house it held during Halloween at an outlying strip mall on the north side of Yorktown Shopping Center.
But there's some resistance.
The Village Board recently voted unanimously against granting a special permit for the Christmas haunted house. Any special event that lasts more than three days requires a special permit, said Lombard village manager Scott Niehaus.
Jackie West, president of the Commonwealth, said she and others are trying to convince the village board to reconsider its denial of the permit in time for the Christmas-themed haunted house to be held from Dec. 5 to Dec 21.
"All we have to do is repaint it and redecorate it with a Christmas theme," she said.
Niehaus said in denying the permit that the village board cited concerns about increased traffic at the mall during the holiday shopping season. He said the haunted house also would put an additional burden on village services as police, who direct traffic.
"Shopping in October is different from shopping in December at Yorktown," he said.
He said the village has received about a dozen emails from people asking it to issue the permit and two from people who object because they believe it would not be in keeping with the holiday's religious aspects or would be in bad taste.
"I understand people's concerns," West said. "But I look at it this way. It's like a TV show. If you don't like it. Don't watch it."
West said about 130 teens built, decorated and staffed the Halloween haunted house, which provides them with a positive activity. Some of the teens who volunteer at the haunted house are getting volunteer service hours required by their church or school. Others are referred by the DuPage County Sheriff's Department because they need to complete community service hours, she said.
"There are some kids, some who are troubled, who'd be out spray painting a building," West said. "We take those kids and give them something to do. We train them."
The teens learn how to build and staff the house, she said. If the Christmas haunted house is allowed, West said rooms would be redecorated with different themes such as Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, "Christmas Vacation," or "A Christmas Story."
"It's not like we'd have a Satan room with Satan killing children," West said.
Instead, she said, it is easy to envision how a room at Halloween house could be converted to an elf room.
"It would be the equivalent of our clown room," she said. "They'd dress up as elves, screaming at you."
As contrary to the traditional Christmas themes of peace and serenity as it may seem, she said screams, scares and fake blood smeared on the teen's costumes would certainly be part of the setup.
"They are absolutely going to jump out at you and scare you," she said. "The kids like to make their own fake blood."
West said her group does not make money off of the haunted house. She said it will break even on the October house and will donate about $500 from it to a local church. She said they also conducted a food drive during October.
Though the village does not question that the October haunted house has some positive aspects, Niehaus said it is not the only group that provides things for teens to do in Lombard.
"There are plenty of other outlets through churches, schools and the village," he said.
He said the group could hold the Christmas-themed haunted house for three days if it chooses because a special permit would not be required.
West maintains the Christmas haunted house is not likely to bring in as much traffic as village officials believe. She said the October haunted house was only on weekend nights and attracted about 150 to 200 people on night. The Christmas house would also be on weekend nights, and she estimates it would only bring in about 100 people a night.
A scary Christmas house is not as scary as teens without things to do, she believes.
"The haunted house was built by kids, for kids," she said. "These are kids who have nothing to do. We give them something positive to do."
