Santa Clara County Pledges $70K for July 4 Fireworks Display

By Bay City News 

Santa Clara County, the city of San Jose and the San Jose Rotary Club Wednesday pledged $120,000 toward a July 4 fireworks display to celebrate the club's 100th anniversary in the city, a spokesman said.

The Rotary Centennial Fireworks event on Independence Day will take place in downtown San Jose, but exact details are still being hammered out, club publicity committee member Nicholas Adams said.

The city of San Jose used to host annual Fourth of July fireworks displays until 2009 when the city halted funding for it due to budget constraints, Adams said.

San Jose's Rotary Club chapter, which started in 1914, opted to revive the downtown show just for this year for its century anniversary, he said.

"This is a one-time gift to the city," Adams said. "Anything past this has not been discussed."

"This is a big deal -- the largest city in the Bay Area will have a fireworks display again," Adams said.

To pay for the exploding pyrotechnics, the county has pledged to kick in $70,000, the city $50,000 and the club $20,000, Adams said.

The 450-member humanitarian service group expects local businesses to promise additional money and serve as event co-sponsors, Adams said.

"There are a long list of folks who want to support it, and for next year, too," he said.

Michele McGurk, spokeswoman for San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, said that firework shows put on by the city in past years took place at Discovery Meadow, a large field next to the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose in downtown off of West San Carlos Street and state Highway 87.

In order to contain costs, this year's July 4 fireworks event will not include a festival, booths or alcohol sales, McGurk said.

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