Fireworks back at beach

Jenny Marder

Fireworks will explode off Surf City’s shoreline in July for the

first time in three decades after the City Council on Tuesday night

backed off its stand against the display.

The council denied a beach show last year and had already rejected

plans in January for fireworks over the water this July. Councilwoman

Pam Julien Houchen brought the topic back to the table on Tuesday

night, however, with more specifics on how it could work.

The fireworks show -- which will celebrate Surf City’s centennial

Fourth of July parade -- will be shot from a barge off the beach. It

will be the second largest fireworks show in the country.

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for the 100th anniversary,

and the citizens deserved it ... and it’s illustrated that at least

five members of the City Council represent the constituency,”

resident Barry Williams said. “It will be wonderful. It really will.”

While the 5-2 vote was a colossal victory for proponents, who

fought doggedly for the plan, there was still a vast hurdle that had

to be cleared: raising $84,000 to pay for the show.

Costs for the beach fireworks show will be about $82,000: $40,000

for the display itself, $40,000 for police officers, $1,000 for a

fire engine and paramedics and $1,000 for beach cleanup, said Pat

Stier, chairwoman of the Fourth of July Parade Committee.

The whole day -- parade, race and entertainment included -- will

cost more than $300,000.

But Stier has no doubts that the money will be raised.

“I’m very confident,” Stier said. “The hard part was [getting it

through] the council and them giving us the chance. We’re not going

to fail the city now.”

The board has already raised about one-third of the cost.

With a sluggish economy, fundraising can be a struggle, Mayor

Cathy Green said.

“If they can’t overcome that hurdle, it’s back at the high

school,” said Green, one of two council members to change their vote

since January. “It’s a tough time to fundraise right now. It’s a

tough thing, but they seem very confident and very enthusiastic, so

more power to them.”

Tuesday night’s decision will bring the fireworks show back to the

beach after about 30 years. The fireworks show was moved from the

beach venue to Huntington Beach High School in the 1970s, when

increasingly thick fog blocked the show from view.

Houchen brought a slightly altered proposal back to her colleagues

in last-ditch effort on Tuesday and begged them to reconsider it.

This time the board pinpointed an exact location, secured funds

for lighting on the beach and expanded its support to include

influential hotelier Steve Bone, owner of the Hyatt Regency

Huntington Beach Resort & Spa and the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort.

“We’re only asking for it for one year,” Houchen said. “I believe

it will be a great success. Our city has changed, and we’ve grown up

quite a bit.”

City Council members Connie Boardman and Dave Sullivan stayed firm

in their vote to deny the show, fearing a repeat of civil unrest that

plagued the city in the early 1990s.

“I just don’t think it’s worth the chance,” Sullivan said. “We’ve

worked so hard in this city to get rid of that image. Man, it was our

image for a long time, and if something goes wrong, the city will be

suffering.”

Green, who was still undecided at the start of the meeting, said

it was the confidence of police and firefighters she spoke with that

compelled her to switch sides.

“I had talked to several of the firefighters and police officers

and the [police] chief and said, ‘Could we make this work for this

year?’ and almost all of them said, ‘Yes, we can make this work,’”

Green said. “I thought for one year, I’ll try it and keep my fingers

crossed and pray.”

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at jenny.marder@latimes.com.