Ready or not, Wallingford, the 4th of July fireworks show for this year is a done deal.
The Seattle Chamber of Commerce, along with Mayor McGinn and Seafair, just announced that the 4th of July Fireworks are going to take place this year on Lake Union, with Gas Works Park as the location for day long festivities including food booths, a beer garden, music, displays, and activities.
Beth Knox, President and CEO for Seafair, announced that Western Display Fireworks will launch a 20-minute, choreographed show from a barge on Lake Union.
The Seattle Chamber of Commerce announced that they have signed sponsors on to a minimum of a 3-year commitment for the show. Sponsors include longtime supporters: Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, and Tom Douglas Restaurants, with KIRO TV as the broadcast sponsor. Community contributions are also welcome as a 501c3 “Fireworks Fund” has been set up via the Seattle Chamber of Commerce website, which you can access here.
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McGinn is an idiot….here’s what I posted on his Facebook page:
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Too bad that in your supreme anti-environmental idiocy, spent all this time “saving” the fireworks and yet decided to have them back at Lake Union instead of the sensible place off Myrtle Edwards.
Hello? Gas Works is remediated toxic waste site and every time they do an event there and break the park rules to do so (because the 4th of July permits seem to magically make the rules for all others disappear…) then you are exposing citizens to exposure to toxins.
You know I sued the city over this some years back and if I was a lawyer with the resources of the City Attorney’s office I would have stopped it. It shouldn’t be there.
By doing them off the waterfront you also save $100k in police overtime and are able to put on a better show, with bands (like Ivar used to…) and also collect more donations…
Stupid mayor…
Your point is really driven home when you say “Stupid mayor”. Its a good thing to use insults when you are trying to get people to listen to you because it helps your argument so much. GJ.
I guess if you can’t address the points I made Andrew then you may fall into the same class as the Mayor…who is an expert at failing to address the issue…
Just curious what the reason these corporations have for preferring to work with Seattle Chamber and Seafair as opposed to One Reel.
One Reel has become a nasty abusive self-centered organization…kind of like Greg Nickels was… They are so unimaginative that they reduced the event to a chance for corporate begging. No one wanted to work with them any more
@1: Don’t you sue everybody?
@Chicago office furniture:
Good…they have a great display in Chicago – watch it there!
@Doug:
No not everyone…not even close…however you may recall that I spearheaded the suit that Wallingford residents filed (and won) to prevent One Reel from privatizing Gas Works for their Summer Nights concert series.
BenJammin…
Yeah, I recall that. I also recall that you are NOT a Wallingford resident. I am, and you do not speak for me.
The fact that you spearheaded the cancellation of the Summer Nights concert series is not a feather in your cap, it’s a sad reflection of the overly litigious (and by extension, conservative) community that Seattle has become in the past two decades. I miss that series and would’ve loved to see it at Gasworks.
As for your past dalliances in Independence Day party-poopery, I think Dan Savage <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/06/30/today-in-local-douchebags?oid=1772194&show=comments&display=&sort=desc"said it well.
DOUG.
Doug:
Colbert got it right on that one – http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/232487/june-30-2009/4th-of-july-under-attack
Colbert actually read the pleading – Dan didn’t….
As far as the summer nights goes – all I did was organize the Wallingford residents – I did nothing else – and even the architect that designed the park was on board.
As for the pleading I filed, I was not trying to kill the fireworks, just make sure that Gas Works would be used as intended and safely. I was also correct…if I was lawyer, I could have won. Look at the area north of the barn now – it’s fenced off because of the toxics leeching to the surface. This is really important stuff – all park visitors should be safe.
The people from Seafair are looking closely at the whole situation and likely, next year, will move it to Myrtle Edwards where the event should be – with lots of room to do a great patriotic production.