Records released to the Amarillo Pioneer show that the City of Amarillo spent around $7,000 securing barricades for the downtown festival in 2017.
On Tuesday, the Amarillo Pioneer obtained records indicating that the City of Amarillo spent $6,637.95 on barricades for the 2017 downtown festival. The barricades were purchased from Lubbock, Texas-based vendor Barricades Unlimited and were earmarked for use at the downtown Amarillo festival that occurred on July 1, 2017.
The expenditure for the barricades was made in 2017 to sponsor the festival, dubbed the Route 66 Celebration, which was organized by the Amarillo Globe-News. The City of Amarillo was also listed as a sponsor for the festival this year, although it was stated that Happy State Bank and Center City of Amarillo also played roles in organizing the 2018 festival.
Records also indicate that the expenditure was made during the same year that city manager Jared Miller says the City notified the Tri-State Fair and Rodeo that the City of Amarillo would no longer be covering costs for barricades and security for the parade.
"We love parades but it's not really something that is a sustainable cost for us," Miller said during a press conference. "There are going to be parades that we are going to continue to support - like the parade of lights and the Veterans' Day parade - that obviously they are arguing we need to be doing these things. We can't be in the position of picking and choosing which parades get supported and which ones do not."
The Tri-State Fair says that the cost was roughly $7,000, while Miller disputed the claim, stating that the cost was closer to $15,000. Fiesta Foods of Amarillo eventually stepped in to save the parade.
While the City of Amarillo is spending money to provide security for the festival, officials with the Route 66 Association in Amarillo say that the association was charged for security. Bob Lile, vice president of the Historic Route 66 6th Street Association, says that the City of Amarillo, as recently as this year, charged organizers of the 6th Street festival for security and street closures. Lile also expressed frustration with the City's use of the Route 66 Celebration name for its downtown festival, as the festival was on the same day at the 6th Street celebration and the downtown festival does not include Route 66.
"We don't like it and it's not fair," Lile said. "I'll tell anyone, even the mayor. They're stealing the name and using it for their own event."
Lile also noted that 6th Street Association donates proceeds from its event to organizations like Heal the City and other non-profits. Lile also said that organizers are not planning to host the 6th Street festival on the same day as the City's festival next year.
For information about the City of Amarillo's festival, please visit http://amarilloroute66celebration.com/.
Photo by Route 66 Celebration