Fireworks Show Canceled When Newspaper Ends Its Sponsorship

The only free Fourth of July fireworks show in Santa Clarita has been canceled because the sponsor can no longer afford to help fund the $32,000 extravaganza.

The Newhall Signal has paid for at least half the cost of the popular fireworks show at College of the Canyons since the mid-1960s, but rising liability costs associated with the event and dwindling advertising revenues have made it impossible for the newspaper to continue, Publisher Darell Phillips said. The cost of putting on the half-hour display has risen from about $20,000 to $32,000 in the past year, he said.

“We looked for places to cut, and this was one of them,” Phillips said. “We just couldn’t afford to do it anymore.”

Phillips said the Signal asked the city to increase the amount it contributes to the show, but officials refused. Since it incorporated 3 1/2 years ago, the city has paid the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department about $10,000 to provide security and traffic control during the show, which draws about 40,000 people, said Jeff Kolin, the city’s parks and recreation director.

“It’s a hard choice, but the city doesn’t have an endless supply of funds,” said city spokeswoman Gail Foy, adding that Santa Clarita is contributing $40,000 to a granite veterans memorial as well as sponsoring a Fourth of July parade and carnival.

The city has also spent about $500 to print 5,000 postcards proclaiming Santa Clarita as “the most patriotic city in America,” based on a Cable News Network report during the Gulf War. The postcards are available free at City Hall.

Kolin said the city also did not want to run the risk of being sued by residents of the Valencia Summit, an affluent neighborhood overlooking the stadium where the show is held. Foy said Summit residents have complained about damage to hillsides, lawns and sprinklers caused by crowds attending the show, and have even blocked off streets to prevent people from parking in the hilltop housing tract.

“The show has simply outgrown the College of the Canyons site,” Foy said.

Scott and Ruth Newhall, who owned the Signal until the Morris Corp. of Savannah, Ga., bought it in 1978, began sponsoring the fireworks show in the mid-1960s.

“People around here thought we were Communists because we opposed the Vietnam War and we wanted to demonstrate our patriotism by putting on the show,” Ruth Newhall said Friday.

Two annual fireworks displays that charge admission will be held at Magic Mountain and the Saugus Speedway.

Heather Morgan of the Times staff also contributed to this story.