3 months ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - If Sacramento residents want to see a ball drop on New Year's Eve, they'll need to watch network television at 9 p.m. local time for the New York Times Square version. The one that drew an estimated 15,000 people to downtown Sacramento in 2008 will not be back in 2009. The Paragary Restaurant Group, which organized the event last year, has confirmed they have canceled plans for a second go-round at 10th and K Streets. Lack of sufficient funds to properly host and secure the event is the primary reason. "We really started adding up the dollars and sense of it," said event planner Trevor Shults. "Police Department costs, city costs, the cost of a new ball to make it bigger and better. It really added up to way more than we anticipated. And this year we just couldn't afford it." He says the 2009 version would have cost roughly $200,000, about five times more than it did one year ago when they planned on having only 3,000 people. Kevin Johnson attended that gathering at 10th and K, and did the countdown. As the glowing orb dropped and the neon 2009 sign came to life, confetti flew out across the crowd of 15,000, which was centered in front of the Cosmopolitan Restaurant. The Paragary Group deemed the event a huge success. One business owner in the area said there wasn't enough crowd control, however. And some people who attended told News10 that there was a severe shortage of porta potties. Sacramento Police say violence and crime during the event were not a problem last year, though there would be a need for three times as many officers this time to ensure that order was maintained. The Paragary Restaurant Group would have been responsible for that cost, as well as the cost of building a new ball. Paragary rented a ball for the inaugural event, but this time a custom-built orb was needed, costing at least $50,000 -- more than the price tag for the entire production one year ago. Shults says almost all of that money was attained through corporate partnerships in 2008. One year later, those same businesses are unable to help meet the higher price tag. Paragary will host an official New Year's Eve party inside their Cosmopolitan restaurant and Social nightclub complex. They hope to bring back the ball drop in 2010.
by Will Frampton, wframpton@news10.net.
News10/KXTV
