Record-breaking gingerbread house will be built at the Mall of America

By Barb Teed
Hansel and Gretel will find more than shopping at the Mall of America this holiday
season. They will find the world’s largest gingerbread house.
The Mall of America will host an attempt at the Guinness Book of Records entry
for a gingerbread house, according to Daniel Jasper, director of public relations for the Mall of America, in an exclusive interview with the Lions Roar.
”It’s going to be 65 feet tall and completely clad in real frosting,” Jasper said. “It will almost touch the ceiling. People can walk through it. It’s the first one that people can walk through.”
The current Guinness Book of Records lists the record for a gingerbread house at 57 feet tall, set in 2003 by Roger Pelcher of Tennessee, according to Jasper. “Mr. Pelcher is coming here to break his own record,” he said. “The Guinness people actually come out and measure everything.”
Beginning in October, Pelcher will be at the Mall of America for several weeks as construction manager, Jasper said.
The gingerbread house, complete with its own sprinkler system, will be built in several stages. Pelcher said scaffolding and sheetrock is built up for two weeks while waiting for the gingerbread to arrive. The gingerbread is applied to the sheetrock, he said. A local construction company, PCL Constructors, is building the house and donating
the materials, according to Pelcher.
The outside of the gingerbread house will be edible, Jasper said. “95 percent of the outside has to be edible to be in the world’s record book,” he said. “People cannot eat anything connected with the house. However, we will have freshly baked gingerbread cookies available for sale just outside the house.”
There will be an actual gingerbread factory inside the house and animated elves will be making gingerbread men for the holidays, Jasper said.
The gingerbread is being baked by Wilton Bakery of Illinois. The bakery will not be charging for the gingerbread needed to build the house, according to Allyson Martin, group product manager. “We are pleased to donate the gingerbread
in order to help Roger break the Guinness Book World Record,” she said. “Details are still being finalized and the final number of pieces has not yet been confirmed.” Martin said the gingerbread is produced in a factory in Ontario, Canada and large trucks will be used to ship the gingerbread pieces to the Mall of America.
An entire factory at Wilton is used specifically to bake gingerbread cookies for their gingerbread kits that will be sold at the Mall of America, said Martin. “The large gingerbread pieces used to build the house at the MOA will also be baked at this factory,” she said.
The gingerbread houses are almost a foot tall in the kits her company will be selling, Martin said.
The Mall of America is considering installing
web cams over the construction site so people can watch the construction progress, Pelcher said. “They are doing national marketing and have been pitching
it for months,” he said.
A movie company with actor Robin Williams is thinking about doing a movie in the Mall of America around the Gingerbread
house, according to Pelcher. “The Food Network is getting involved, too. And so is Good Morning America and the Today show,” he said.
There is no charge to enter the gingerbread
house, Jasper said . “It is open and free to all,” he said. “However, we are asking for a suggested donation to benefit the St.Therese Foundation, which is a local non-profit organization that offers
health care and housing to senior citizens.”
Visitors do not have to donate, Jasper said. “If people choose not to give, that is fine. They are still welcome to enjoy the gingerbread house.”
The gingerbread house will be unveiled the day after Thanksgiving and will be located on the West side of the mall at the entrance of the park near the red dog dish, Jasper said.
According to blueprints submitted by Greg Hollenkamp of KKe Architects, animated elves will skate on top of the red dish. A giant squirrel with acorns will greet visitors at the base of the dish, the drawing illustrates. KKe did the blueprints
as a community service and did not charge for their services, Hollenkamp said.
PCL Constructors and KKe Architects are the same companies hired for phase two of the Mall of America, according Jasper.
The house is being built by paid staff for liability reasons, Pelcher said. However,
he said he welcomes NCC hospitality
and hotel management students to volunteer once the gingerbread house is finished. NCC hospitality instructor Dan Creed said he would supply Pelcher the names of students who would be interested
in the opportunity.
In addition to the world’s largest gingerbread
house, the Park at the Mall of America will have a festival of lights for the holiday season with thousands of twinkling lights, according to Jasper.
“It’s going to be absolutely amazing,” he said. “We have a new Santa set. This is going to be holiday central and people will want to come here.”