CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg County has rescinded a permit for the National Whitewater Center to hold fireworks shows for Independence Day, Channel 9 confirmed on Friday.
The National Whitewater Center had planned on a big fireworks display Monday and Tuesday to celebrate the Fourth of July, but Tuesday’s events will have to go without the rockets’ red glare.
This news comes after Charlotte’s police chief wrote a letter to Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio and Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones with an outline of lingering safety concerns after he learned that a permit had been approved for the Whitewater Center to host a fireworks show.
Saw this, seems kind of wild that they didnt do some of the basic things they were asked to.
It really does. But I seem to recall they have a history of turning a blind eye to the traffic and ingress/egress issues at the facility
These two things stand out to me:
There’s no plan for the large influx of vehicles, and no backup plan for blocked or stalled traffic […] There are 1,500 parking spaces, with an estimated 4,500 vehicles expected.
Having been there during one of their Big Water events, and a couple of lower traffic times, it seems like the place would be absolute insanity on the 4th.
I would ask what sane person would subject themselves to the interminable wait times just to get in, park and then leave, but history has shown me there are a shit ton of insane people who will happily endure that kind of thing.
For such a nice facility, getting in and out and parking there is sketchy as fuck. And they seem to not care about it at all.
