Chapel Hill Officials say Safety the Priority Behind July 4 Fireworks Move

This year’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration is going to be a bit different from celebrations in recent years. Earlier this month, town officials announced fireworks will be launched from Southern Village instead of from UNC’s Kenan Memorial Stadium.

Chapel Hill’s Fire Chief Matt Sullivan said new synthetic grass at Kenan Stadium would be too costly to protect from firework damage. And more importantly, several misfiring fireworks at last year’s event could have hurt somebody in the stadium crowd.

“That caused us a lot of concern. That would have changed the flavor of this event in Chapel Hill forever had anybody been burned or hurt,” Sullivan said, “and we could have hurt many people that night had the trajectory and the degrees just been a little more off.”

The new launch site puts more distance and natural barriers between errant fireworks and the crowd. But the view will be just as good, Susan Brown, Chapel Hill’s Executive Director of Community Arts and Culture said. In part, because fireworks will be launched five times higher this year; to around 500 feet.

“I think that’s really, really cool that the whole town, much of the town, will see these things. So you don’t have to be at the village green. You don’t have to be at the park,” Brown said. “We’ll be there and that’s awesome, but they’ll be seen from many other places too.”

The town got their tech people involved in planning. A three-dimensional model of Chapel Hill was made to make sure that fireworks would be able to be seen from a wide range of locations, including Carrboro High school and Merritt’s Pasture.

Dixon Pitt, a member of the Southern Village Market Street Association, said he’s happy to see Southern Village host these types of large events.

“One of the great motivators for all of the events we do is to not only be a great amenity for Southern Village and the residents that are there and the folks that work in the village, but also as a great amenity for the town,” Pitt said. “And, when we can host these bigger events, even beyond the town.”

Fields at Southern Community Park will be open for folks to come and watch the fireworks. Those interested can also watch from the Southern Village green in the middle of the neighborhood where there will be live music, food and a kid zone.

Residents have expressed concerns over parking for this event. Parking availability around Southern Village will be the same as a normal weekend, except that Market Street around the Village Green will be closed to vehicles. On-street parking in the Dogwood Acres neighborhood will be prohibited, while the parking lot at Scroggs Elementary will be reserved for staff and emergency vehicles.

Chapel Hill Transit will operate a free limited shuttle service from the Chatham County Park & Ride lot starting at 6:30 and running every 15 minutes until 30 minutes after the fireworks display. Free shuttle service will also be offered from the Jones Ferry Park and Ride.

More info on the event, including more parking info, can be found on the event’s official website.

Photo via Town of Chapel Hill

Safety the Priority as Chapel Hill Moves July 4 Fireworks

On Air Now: 97.9 FM