FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio — Amid the recent mass shooting at a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, the city of Fairview Park has announced that it is changing the route for its upcoming Summerfest Parade.
In a letter posted on the city's Facebook page, Fairview Park Mayor Patrick Cooney and Fairview Park Police Chief Paul Shepard say the shooting at Highland Park as well as an incident where five people were killed in a crash at a parade in Wisconsin caused them to reevaluate the parade route. The duo say that the route change is "for the safety of the participants and spectators."
The parade on July 29 will have the same beginning and ending points as usual, but will now travel down Westwood Avenue instead of Lorain Road. The new route will allow the parade to be viewed from both sides of the street, while allowing participants to take up the entire street without concerns of passing traffic.
The route change will add .15 miles to the parade's length.
Staging for the Summerfest Parade will be held at the Gilles-Sweet Elementary School. Start time is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, July 29. You can read complete details about the new parade route in the below post:
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