The city will shift its official Halloween celebration to Redlands Municipal Airport, but Olive Avenue will still close to vehicles on Halloween night.
The spaces are located on the east side of the former LOOK Cinemas property, with additional free parking available nearby
The city will shift its official Halloween celebration to Redlands Municipal Airport, but Olive Avenue will still close to vehicles on Halloween night.
REDLANDS, Calif. — Redlands will not host its annual Olive Avenue Halloween Extravaganza this year, with city officials citing concerns about growing crowds, pedestrian safety, budget constraints and staff resources.
Instead, the city's official Halloween celebration will be held Sunday, Oct. 25, at Redlands Municipal Airport.
Why it matters: Olive Avenue has long been one of Redlands' most popular Halloween destinations, drawing large crowds of families and trick-or-treaters. The tradition predates the city's involvement, but in recent years the city has sponsored an organized celebration and closed the street to vehicle traffic.
City spokesperson Carl Baker said the growing number of visitors to the neighborhood has created concerns about pedestrian and public safety, traffic and impacts on residents.
"Additional factors of budget constraints and staff resources were taken into consideration and the city decided to focus our resources to only one event this year," Baker said in an email Monday to Community Forward Redlands.
Despite cancelling this year's city-sponsored event, Redlands plans to close Olive Avenue to vehicle traffic for a limited period on Halloween night.
Baker said the closure is intended to reduce conflicts among vehicles, pedestrians, trick-or-treaters and neighborhood residents as families continue the longstanding tradition independently.
"The closure is intended solely as a public safety measure and should not be interpreted as a continuation or City sponsorship of Halloween activities in the neighborhood," Baker said.
The city has not yet announced the boundaries or hours of the closure.
The city's official celebration will instead be held at Redlands Municipal Airport on Oct. 25.
Baker said the airport offers more space to accommodate large crowds and provides an alternative to concentrating visitors in the residential Olive Avenue neighborhood.
"This Halloween, we invite families throughout the community to make the Redlands Municipal Airport their destination for Halloween fun," Baker said.
More details about the airport event and Olive Avenue street closure are expected to be announced soon.
The change comes as Redlands is reducing spending across city departments amid rising employee costs and major capital projects, including a $78 million new police station, a $15 million fire station and a City Hall renovation now expected to cost nearly $17 million, up from an earlier estimate of $10 million.
Newly approved employee labor agreements also added $1.2 million in recurring General Fund costs, prompting the city to identify another round of reductions in September.
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