AUBURN - Emerson Park may be transformed into an electric winter wonderland if the county is able to reach an agreement with a private vendor interested in bringing $500,000-worth of white lights to the park this winter.
St. Camillus Health and Rehabilitation Center, of Syracuse, is negotiating with Cayuga County's Parks and Trails department to operate a holiday lights display that would be bigger than any display to come to the Emerson Park. The proposed drive-through light display would trump the park's annual light display and would draw significantly more attention, supporters say.
“It's very beautiful and scenic, but it's not what you'd call spectacular,” Parks and Trails Commissioner Gary Duckett said of the park's usual light display. “That's what their intentions are right now - spectacular.”
At a meeting of the Public Works Committee Tuesday, legislators agreed to work with St. Camillus toward a plan that would bring the light show to the park, even if the county did not make a profit, so long as the event did not cost taxpayers.
“If this can be done in a break-even situation, I would fully support that,” said Legislator David Axton, R-Mentz, chair of the Public Works Committee.
St. Camillus, a nonprofit facility that specializes in inpatient services for traumatic brain injury, has proposed bringing a drive-through light show to Emerson Park in an effort to raise awareness of the organization in the county, said St. Camillus spokeswoman Michelle Rivoli at Tuesday's meeting.
The light show would be done by Midwest Display, a light and sound company that handles Hollywood light displays and has done scenes for “Jingle All the Way” and the remake of “Miracle on 34th Street.” The company is currently working on a 7-mile display for Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, Rivoli said.
The light show at Emerson Park would involve about 30 scenes, each 30 feet tall, worth between $300,000 and $500,000, set to music along seven-tenths of a mile drive.
“It's not like anything that's been done around here,” Rivoli said.
St. Camillus plans to bring other attractions, including cookie and hot chocolate vendors, visiting reindeer and possibly a book-signing with the author of “The Polar Express.”
The center is interested in renting the park and pavilion from Thanksgiving through the new year, a time frame for which the county does not currently have set fees.
Calculating appropriate facility charges is among the tasks the Parks and Trails Department has been scrambling to accomplish since mid-September, when St. Camillus proposed the idea. With little over a month until the proposed start date, the two parties must still finalize a contract and iron out a number of other issues, such as traffic control and security. And before anything lights up, the county's Ways and Means Committee and full Legislature must give their seal of approval, which will not come before the end of the month.
“We don't want to hurt anybody, but we don't want to supplement with county taxpayer dollars a private event,” Duckett said.
Because of the tourism the event could draw, Duckett said he is doing his best to provide rock-bottom prices to St. Camillus. “We're going to try to make this as painless as possible for them,” he said.
But St. Camillus faces challenges of its own. Emerson Park's 600 amps of power are barely enough to light one of the scenes, each which requires 500 amps. To power the whole show, St. Camillus will have to rent four diesel generators, a major expense, Rivoli said.
The time crunch itself could pose a challenge for the light show.
“You need to promote the program,” said Jon Cooley, director of recreation and public programs for Onondaga County Parks. Cooley has been involved with his county's Lights on the Lake display at Onondaga Lake Park since it began as a half-mile, one-color light show 20 years ago.
The show has evolved into a two-mile, half-hour program that attracts about 160,000 people over a span of 49 days, Cooley said. Ten years ago, the parks department purchased a half-million dollars-worth of light displays from its provider, Brandano Displays, with support from local policy makers. Since then, the show has evolved into a holiday attraction that Cooley said is one of the signature drive-through light shows in the country.
“The challenge I would see for Auburn,” Cooley said, “is they're in our market.”
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
“It's very beautiful and scenic, but it's not what you'd call spectacular,” Parks and Trails Commissioner Gary Duckett said of the park's usual light display. “That's what their intentions are right now - spectacular.”
At a meeting of the Public Works Committee Tuesday, legislators agreed to work with St. Camillus toward a plan that would bring the light show to the park, even if the county did not make a profit, so long as the event did not cost taxpayers.
“If this can be done in a break-even situation, I would fully support that,” said Legislator David Axton, R-Mentz, chair of the Public Works Committee.
St. Camillus, a nonprofit facility that specializes in inpatient services for traumatic brain injury, has proposed bringing a drive-through light show to Emerson Park in an effort to raise awareness of the organization in the county, said St. Camillus spokeswoman Michelle Rivoli at Tuesday's meeting.
The light show would be done by Midwest Display, a light and sound company that handles Hollywood light displays and has done scenes for “Jingle All the Way” and the remake of “Miracle on 34th Street.” The company is currently working on a 7-mile display for Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, Rivoli said.
The light show at Emerson Park would involve about 30 scenes, each 30 feet tall, worth between $300,000 and $500,000, set to music along seven-tenths of a mile drive.
“It's not like anything that's been done around here,” Rivoli said.
St. Camillus plans to bring other attractions, including cookie and hot chocolate vendors, visiting reindeer and possibly a book-signing with the author of “The Polar Express.”
The center is interested in renting the park and pavilion from Thanksgiving through the new year, a time frame for which the county does not currently have set fees.
Calculating appropriate facility charges is among the tasks the Parks and Trails Department has been scrambling to accomplish since mid-September, when St. Camillus proposed the idea. With little over a month until the proposed start date, the two parties must still finalize a contract and iron out a number of other issues, such as traffic control and security. And before anything lights up, the county's Ways and Means Committee and full Legislature must give their seal of approval, which will not come before the end of the month.
“We don't want to hurt anybody, but we don't want to supplement with county taxpayer dollars a private event,” Duckett said.
Because of the tourism the event could draw, Duckett said he is doing his best to provide rock-bottom prices to St. Camillus. “We're going to try to make this as painless as possible for them,” he said.
But St. Camillus faces challenges of its own. Emerson Park's 600 amps of power are barely enough to light one of the scenes, each which requires 500 amps. To power the whole show, St. Camillus will have to rent four diesel generators, a major expense, Rivoli said.
The time crunch itself could pose a challenge for the light show.
“You need to promote the program,” said Jon Cooley, director of recreation and public programs for Onondaga County Parks. Cooley has been involved with his county's Lights on the Lake display at Onondaga Lake Park since it began as a half-mile, one-color light show 20 years ago.
The show has evolved into a two-mile, half-hour program that attracts about 160,000 people over a span of 49 days, Cooley said. Ten years ago, the parks department purchased a half-million dollars-worth of light displays from its provider, Brandano Displays, with support from local policy makers. Since then, the show has evolved into a holiday attraction that Cooley said is one of the signature drive-through light shows in the country.
“The challenge I would see for Auburn,” Cooley said, “is they're in our market.”
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
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bizzaro-world wrote on Oct 18, 2009 4:13 PM:
CVA62 wrote on Oct 18, 2009 9:14 AM:
Oh, yes! Those diesel generators? If the good people of Owasco couldn't deal with wind chimes, however will they tolerate four - count them, FOUR - diesel generators disturbing their peace and quiet. By the way, DIESEL generators require DIESEL fuel. The same potential pollutant carried by those nasty 18 wheelers invading Owasco.
Won't cost taxpayers? We shall see! "