Tinley Park’s decision to hold a Fourth of July event this year with fireworks has prompted the village’s Park District to cancel its annual event that has been held for some four decades.
The Tinley Park-Park District said Friday its annual event at McCarthy Park, which features music, games for children, food trucks and a fireworks display, will not be held, according to Shawn Roby, the Park District’s executive director.
Village officials, at a meeting Tuesday, agreed to have a picnic and festival starting at 5:30 p.m. July 3 at the 80th Avenue Metra station, with a fireworks display at dusk at the southeast area of the station’s parking lot, close to the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center.
The Park District’s event had been planned for July 4, and the Park District and village have typically shared the cost of the fireworks display, with the village providing police and fire personnel for the day’s activities, according to Roby.
“It doesn’t make sense to duplicate the same event two days in a row,” he said Friday.
The Village Board agreed to a contract for $50,000 with Mad Bomber Fireworks Productions of LaPorte, Indiana, for the show.
At Tuesday’s meeting, before the Park District’s announcement of its cancellation, Trustee Diane Gallante questioned why the village would move forward with a separate event and fireworks show.
“We’re one community,” she said. “We already have a beautiful event, it’s a community event.”
Roby said the park board held its regular meeting Wednesday, and although a formal vote on canceling the July 4 activities was not taken, he was directed by park board members to abandon this year’s plans.
He said the Park District had not yet signed a contract, with an estimated cost of $31,000, for this year’s Park District fireworks show. Roby said the district had been awaiting a decision from village officials as to whether the cost-sharing agreement for this year’s fireworks show would continue.
Roby said that, as part of the Park District Fourth of July events, it also holds a 5K run, but the district is seeking village approval to hold the race July 1.
Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz said the decision for the village to hold a Fourth of July event separate from the Park District was “more of a safety thing.”
A section of 80th Avenue near McCarthy Park is shut for several hours for the Park District’s event, and Glotz said the closure impedes traffic. Roby said it was the village’s suggestion a few years ago to close the portion of 80th between 167th Street and 171st Street for the Park District event, which he said draws thousands of people to McCarthy Park, east of 80th Avenue.
Glotz said the village’s decision to hold its own event at the Metra station will offer ample parking and no street closures.
“We’re not inconveniencing the entire community of Tinley Park,” Glotz said.
Holding the event at the 80th Avenue train station will provide better opportunities for public safety personnel to keep an eye on the crowd and manage potential threats, the police Chief Matthew Walsh said in a village Facebook post Friday.
“Last year, the village came within 15 minutes of cancelling the Fourth of July celebration in McCarthy Park due to a threat received on the heels of the Highland Park shooting,” he said in the post. “Since that time, we’ve been looking for ways to increase safety and efficiency at all of our events, especially ones that have the potential to attract large crowds.”
Jeanette Larue, of Tinley Park, was charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly sending a series of text messages to her nephew last July 4 threatening to attack firework displays in Orland Park, Tinley Park, Lockport and Joliet.
The threats came the same day a gunman killed seven people and wounded several others at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park. Larue is scheduled to appear Monday in court in Bridgeview court.
The village said the 80th Avenue location also has other benefits, including better parking options for attendees and for keeping traffic from spilling over into subdivisions surrounding McCarthy Park.
As a backdrop to the Independence Day events, the village and Park District have been at odds over plans by both to acquire the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center northwest of Harlem Avenue and 183rd Street.
The 280-acre property is southeast of the 80th Avenue Metra station.
The village and Park District have indicated to the state they are interested in buying the property, with the village proposing an entertainment district that would fit with amenities such as the outdoor music amphitheater.
The Park District has proposed recreational uses including sports fields, an indoor soccer field and play areas for people with special needs.