Nahant fireworks event deemed a success

NAHANT – In what was a break from tradition, the town held its annual fireworks display at Bailey’s Hill this year and according to Nahant Town Administrator Mark Cullinan, the event was a huge success.”I drove around town and there were probably more people watching the fireworks than I’ve ever seen attend,” he said. “People were really spread out because there were a lot of venues from which to see them including Tudor Beach, Kelley Greens, the town wharf and the fire station.”Cullinan said the one criticism he heard most frequently from residents is the fireworks weren’t directly overhead like when they are shot off from Short Beach.”When they are shot off at Short Beach the fireworks are directly overhead,” he said. “You don’t get that effect that Tudor Beach but that is why we had to move them. At Short Beach people were sitting right under them and that is why we had to move them. If we had them at Short Beach we would have to shut down the whole beach and Lowlands field. The perimeter would go all the way back to the dump so residents couldn’t watch them from the beach.”Cullinan said the state Fire Marshall almost shut down the fireworks at Short Beach last year.”The issue at Short Beach is if one of the fireworks tips over it could shoot right into the crowd and someone could get killed,” he said.Cullinan said if the town wants to move the fireworks back to Short Beach it would be almost impossible to set them off from the beach itself.”The only way the fireworks can go back to Short Beach is if they go off a barge,” he said. “I’m sure there would be support for that but it would probably cost an extra $10,000 for a barge.”The annual fireworks display cost $15,000 this year and there was talk of canceling them due to lack of funding but the money was raised at the last minute. Cullinan said raising an additional $10,000 for a barge could be difficult.