Patch Poll: Should Allegheny County End Celebration of Lights at Hartwood?
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald says Allegheny County cannot afford the annual light show due to costs and a lack of sponsors. Should the holiday-themed show go on anyway?
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced Monday that the county will discontinue the annual holiday-themed Celebration of Lights at Hartwood Acres Park due to high costs and declining sponsorships. The county-owned park spanning property in Hampton and Indiana townships has been the longtime site and the county Department of Parks and Recreation has overseen the annual three-mile driving tour of displays depicting Christmas, Hanukkah and winter themes. Contributions from visitors have been earmarked for Project Bundle-up, a project by WTAE and the Salvation Army to outfit needy children and senior citizens with coats and cold-weather gear. In past years, the Celebration of Lights has been known to generate long lines of traffic…
Josh Meeder
8:47 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012
This is a great arguement for the need for sustainability and fiscal accountability in projects and local government. This festival is an extravagant waste of electricity and auto emissions ( as most cars slowly idle through the course). While the community gets some notoriety , the is no lasting encomonic impact, especially to the local small businesses. People come, drive through, and leave. … more ›