Pierce College Pulls Out as Host of July 4th Fireworks Show

Pierce College said Thursday it would no longer host the annual Fourth of July fireworks show that has become a West Valley institution because of litter and crowd damage to campus buildings and because the school’s neighbors are annoyed by the admission fee.

“As far as we are concerned, we cannot continue the use of the college for this,” said school President E. Bing Inocencio, acting on a recommendation by the 18-member Pierce College Council, which represents students, faculty, other employees and unions.

The vote, he added, was unanimous, with one member abstaining.

The show’s sponsors, the Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce, expressed surprise and disappointment but said it has not been told of the decision by college officials.

“We haven’t taken a formal position because we haven’t been notified,” said Mary Culp, first vice president of the chamber. “But we have talked about alternatives for our budgetary planning, in case this is true.”

Chamber President Gary Barr said he was saddened by the college’s decision, calling it a “fatal blow” to the event.

“A number of years ago, we did a study to determine if there was another location and there were no others in the West Valley,” he said.

The chamber has sponsored the fireworks show for nearly 22 years on the college campus. Although the fireworks are visible throughout much of the west and central San Fernando Valley, thousands of spectators, many of them families with small children, came to the campus each year to get a better view.

And each year, though they had misgivings, college administrators agreed to allow use of the facilities.

Until last July visitors paid an admission fee to see the display from inside the school’s athletic stadium--where there were additional attractions, such as food booths and games--but allowed free admission to the campus for those who wanted to watch from the school grounds. This year, organizers charged all who entered the campus a fee, angering some neighbors who said they had never had to pay in the past.

Inocencio said bad publicity over the complaints and the costs of vandalism and other damage to the campus brought college officials to their decision.

One year, he said, the college had to pay $60,000 to repair damage caused by people climbing on roofs of campus buildings for a better view of the fireworks. The college charged the chamber $20,000 this year for use of the grounds.

Culp said chamber executives were surprised by the administration’s assertion that the event causes heavy damage.

“None of us have any idea where that statement is coming from,” she said. “We’re all scratching our heads and wondering what they are basing it on.”

She conceded there is littering, but said part of the fee goes to pay for cleanup costs, and the chamber also brings in volunteer workers.

Leaving a glimmer of hope, Inocencio said if organizers approach him with guarantees that the college would not have the problems it has experienced in the past, the decision may be reconsidered.

“I haven’t totally closed the door on the possibility,” Inocencio said. “However, I’m certainly not soliciting another offer.”