Extra lighting is going up, streets are being closed, police are being called in and city officials are making final preparations to keep Saturday’s Halloween block party raging — safely, of course.
The city will begin closing Court Street between Mulberry and Carpenter streets at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, and the area should be completely shut down by 1 p.m., said Ron Lucas, deputy service safety director.
Parking meters on Court Street will be bagged early Saturday morning. The city will put up extra lighting on Court and Mill streets Friday, which will remain lit Friday and Saturday nights.
Mill Street will be open to downhill traffic only from College Street to Elliot Street after 4 p.m. Friday.
Athens city officials are preparing to keep the Halloween block party safe on Saturday by making the same preparations they have made for years, said Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle.
“Our response this year … is pretty standard and normal,” Pyle said. “We’ve not tweaked the Uptown response for quite a while.”
In previous years, the city has called in mounted patrol officers and Pyle said there will be mounted officers patrolling Saturday.
The nuisance party law will be enforced this weekend, which could cause more partygoers to head Uptown on Saturday, Pyle said.
“The history in the last 10 years is that there are private parties while the party Uptown is going on,” he said. “If we shut down parties this weekend for violation of the nuisance party (law), those people are either going to go home or they’re going to come Uptown.”
Between 10 and 25 volunteers will also roam Court, Mill and Palmer streets to alert law enforcement of activity that “might be troublesome,” Lucas said.
The city will team up with Ohio University to man an information kiosk outside the Athens City Building on East Washington Street. The kiosk is meant to help people who are lost or who need information about Halloween activities Uptown.
For safety reasons, crowds at the north and south stages on Court Street can exit at different places and at different times, said Jonathan Holmberg, chairman of the Clean and Safe Halloween Committee.
“We stagger it by half an hour so that at the end of the night, the crowd can get off Court Street and it doesn’t become one big exit,” Holmberg said. “We’re proud to work with the city and the county to make sure this event is as safe and controlled as we can possibly get it.”
The event does receive some city funding, but the majority of the funding for Halloween comes from sponsors, Holmberg said.
“The cooperation between (the Clean and Safe Halloween Committee) and the city has caused this party to become a much better event, and safer, and something we can actually be proud of,” Holmberg said.
jj360410@ohiou.edu
