4th of July Festivities, Fireworks May Move to Las Positas College

The Livermore July 4th festivities and fireworks may have a new home in 2012 — — pending the availability of private funding and finalization of appropriate permits and approvals.

“ is excited to have the opportunity to invite our friends and neighbors to campus for a great celebration. We are proud to be part of this community and look forward to working with the Livermore Fireworks Community Committee, the and the (LARPD)" announced Kevin Walthers, Las Positas College president.  

The annual tradition fell victim to budget cuts in 2011, so in January, LARPD and
City of Livermore staff . During that initial meeting, John Lawrence, LARPD Assistant General Manager, outlined recent changes to — the previous location for the annual celebration until 2010.

Space available for parking has been reduced more than 50 percent due to construction of .

In addition, the two sports fields where people gathered will soon be improved for year-round use with artificial turf fields, making them off-limits for the event due to potential damage caused by large numbers of people on them.

Contributing to the need to identify a new venue is the limited number of fireworks shows being held in the region.

“The is excited to be working with the Livermore Fireworks Community Committee, , and Las Positas College to host a bigger and better event," Livermore Mayor John Marchand said. “A number of cities have made the difficult  decision to cancel their fireworks shows to contain costs and protect other services. In planning to bring back the fireworks, we knew we had to anticipate an increased number of people visiting Livermore to celebrate our nation’s independence.” 

Given the constraints at Robertson Park a new location is needed to provide sufficient space for people to safely gather and prevent massive gridlock in the center of town. 

Las Positas College has ample parking onsite and nearby, and access to the campus is much improved with the new and .

LARPD Board Member Steve Goodman is working with the Livermore Fireworks Community Committee to return fireworks to the 4th-of-July night sky. 

“It was a difficult decision to eliminate the July 4th celebration from the previous LARPD budgets, but even if funding for the 4th of July fireworks had remained, a new location to host the event would have been needed,” Goodman said.

Livermore resident Wendy Weathers, committee chairperson, is overseeing the efforts to coordinate the citizens committee working on fundraising, planning and operation of the 4th of July event. 

Having a location is critical for fundraising efforts and she is grateful of the support that Las Positas College is providing. 

“With Las Positas College’s higher elevation and larger site, even more Livermore residents and visitors will be able to enjoy the day’s festivities and fireworks show,” exclaimed Weathers.

The committee hosted a fundraiser on March 22 that raised almost $7,000 in addition to the $5,000 previously donated by community members and sponsors. With the available funds, a deposit for the fireworks can be made by the April 1 deadline.

For more information on sponsoring the event, visit the Livermore
Fireworks website at www.LivermoreFireworks.org. 

Online donations can be made on the site as well. Follow the group on Facebook at Twitter @livfireworks

To donate by check:
Make checks payable to the LARPD Foundation with “Livermore Fireworks” noted in the memo space and mail to:

Livermore Fireworks
c/o LARPD Foundation
Attention Sandra Kaya
4444 East Avenue
Livermore, CA 94550