City Hall halls transform into Mario and movie scenes for Fairbanks trick-or-treaters

FAIRBANKS, Alaska: A line of families stretched outside Fairbanks City Hall on Friday evening, waiting to walk through the building's hallways for a Halloween trick-or-treat event. Inside, the corridors had been rebuilt as movie sets and video game scenes, with themes that included Mario, Jurassic Park, The Wizard of Oz and Shrek.

City employees designed and built every display themselves, and the departments competed against one another for the best decor. Deputy city attorney Kaylee Stickel said the preparation took about a week. "About a week, we were here for a few hours after work every night," Stickel said.

Kids who walked through the rooms offered their own reviews. "It went really well and it was super fun," said trick-or-treater Loyce Clark. Aiden Colminas said the Mario area was his favorite part of the walk. "I liked it when we went to the Mario area. I play a lot of Mario games on my Nintendo," Colminas said.

Parent Jonathan Ringstad said the event was something Fairbanks needed. "With everything going on, it's cool to see the kids just be kids and people be people in the community come together," Ringstad said. He said he had not seen anything like it in Fairbanks for a long time and called it the coolest thing he had seen in years. He hopes the city holds the walk again, saying, "I think this is something that the kids are going to be looking forward to every year from here on out."

Fairbanks Mayor Mindy O'Neall said Halloween at City Hall has been held for four years and that the staff enjoys putting it on. O'Neall noted that City Hall used to be a school building. "City Hall used to be a school. And so we always love hearing the laughter of children through the hallways," O'Neall said. "Anytime we can interact and show families how local their government is and have a positive experience, we're here for it."

O'Neall said the turnout shows her that the building is open to residents. "City Hall is approachable. City Hall is a place where your neighbors work. City Hall is a place that represents our community," she said.

Roads in Fairbanks remain slick. The city advised people walking between homes or driving through neighborhoods on Friday night to take extra precautions.