Sports

Steelers Super Bowl Parade May Be Cancelled By Pittsburgh Mayor

by Jon Azpiri | January 29, 2009 at 02:53 pm

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In a cost-cutting measure, the city of Pittsburgh may not holding a Super Bowl victory parade if the Pittsburgh Steelers win the 2009 Super Bowl.

A Pittsburgh television station reported that the city was looking at not having a celebratory ticker-tap parade through the streets of the city if the Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII.

On Wednesday city sources told Channel 11 that there wouldn't be a parade in Pittsburgh if the Steelers win.
Sources said a parade this year would be a “budget buster” and, more importantly, a safety issue.

The last victory parade drew a quarter-million people into the Golden Triangle and was a public safety nightmare, sources said.

The celebration was free to the public, but it cost the city $45,000 for security and cleanup. Crowd control was also challenging. Some fans created safety concerns by running up to the parade vehicles carrying Steelers players and coaches.

On Thursday, however, Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl suggested that the idea of having a Steelers victory parade is still very much on the table. He said he didn't want to comment publicly on the Super Bowl parade because he didn't want to jinx the team.

Earlier this month, Ravenstahl changed his name to Luke Steelerstahl as a show of support for the Steelers during their AFC Championship matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.

UPDATE: The Mayor's office has announced that there will be a Steelers Super Bowl Parade on Tuesday, February 3.

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scheffner (not verified)

at 07:50 on January 31st, 2009

All of the businesses should be in an uproar over the possibility of no parade. And, what is the city thinking? The money brought into Downtown on that day would be more than the cost of clean-up. Think " stimulus".