Battle Alley Car Cruise to stay in downtown Holly despite merchants’ concerns – Tri-County Times: Human Interests, Social News And Recipes: Fenton, Linden And Holly MI
Battle Alley Car Cruise to stay in downtown Holly despite merchants’ concerns
TRI-COUNTY TIMES | AMY MAYHEW
The shows are free and open to the public on Wednesdays in downtown Holly from 5-8 p.m. through October.
Posted: Friday, April 25, two thousand fourteen 6:57 pm
Holly — It was standing room only at Tuesday’s Village Council meeting as more than twenty Battle Alley Car Cruise enthusiasts crowded into council chambers Tuesday night to speak in favor of keeping Holly’s popular Wednesday night car demonstrate in downtown Holly.
Councilman George Kullis requested the matter be added to the agenda after hearing from a group of worried merchants during a merchant meeting earlier this month. Among their concerns — public safety, keeping South Saginaw Street open for customers until five p.m. on the night of the car demonstrate, and possibly moving the showcase into Crapo Park.
Sandra Kleven, co-owner of French Flamingo Fashions said she isn’t against the car cruise, but has concerns about public safety. “We’ve had a lot of cars downtown, but I fear for the safety of the attendees because it would be very hard for an emergency vehicle to get downtown should, Heaven forbid, a fire occur in one of the establishments or somebody should fall down and break a bone or have a heart attack,” she said. “There is indeed no way for an emergency vehicle to get down. Most of the time, there were a lot of cars down the center of the street — all the parking spaces were taken, and Civic Drive was totally blocked off.”
Kleven recommended that car showcase organizers limit the number of participating vehicles to the number of available parking spaces downtown, and not blocking off South Saginaw Street until after five p.m. on the day of the demonstrate. Several other downtown merchants later agreed with Kleven’s recommendation.
Village Manager Jerry Walker said members of the DDA had already addressed the safety issue, and will prohibit vehicles from parking in the middle of the street and blocking the way for emergency vehicles.
Council member Debra Musgrave asked Bob Allsop, council member and car demonstrate organizer, why he is so resistant to moving the car display to Crapo Park. Aside from the fact that tree sap isn’t good for a vintage paint job, Allsop said it was all about the character of downtown Holly.
“The town is real classy and I’m proud of our town,” Allsop said. “I think it’s nicer than Clarkston — it just looks beautiful downtown when all the cars are there.” Free to the public, Allsop and co-coordinator “Lobo” Bozarth pride themselves on not only running a top-notch car demonstrate, but also providing tons of giveaways to the drivers and attendees, and by routinely donating to many non-profit organizations.
“I do it to help Holly, and I do it for charity,” Allsop said. “Our car display is the best there is in Michigan — that’s my opinion, and that’s why I want it left in downtown.”