ClarksvilleNow.com Reporting
news@clarksvillenow.com
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The City of Clarksville is celebrating our nation’s independence Thursday, July 3 at Liberty Park for food, fun and a big fireworks display.
The event is free and begins at 6:30 p.m. Seating is available throughout the park and the concerts will take place on the Great Lawn of the Wilma Rudolph Event Center.
Staff Sergeant Scott Letourneau of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment will sing the National Anthem. Local performers Eight O’Five Jive will provide live music throughout the evening, followed by Cover Down and fireworks for the Grand Finale. Vendors will offer a variety of foods, including kettle corn, hotdogs, funnel cakes, shaved ice, Philly cheese steaks and more.
In order to prepare for the event, Liberty Park will be closed at sunrise on Wednesday, July 3 for all activities except the Independence Day celebration and will reopen to the general public at sunrise on Thursday, July 4.
PARKING:
While there will be ample parking for guests with handicapped license plates or placards, general admission parking within the park will be limited and will be available on a first come, first serve basis.
Boats with trailers will be allowed to access the boat ramp parking area until 8 p.m. or until the parking area has been filled. For safety reasons, no boats will be allowed to enter or exit the area between 8 and 10 p.m. Additionally, Zinc Plant Road and the Zinc Plant Bridge will be closed to all traffic from 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for the fireworks show. Guests should expect long delays on Riverside Drive and Hwy 48-13 prior to and after the event.
In order to assist with parking, CTS will be offering free rides to and from the event from several locations close to the park. For those people who want to park downtown, buses will begin departing the downtown Transit Center at 4:00 p.m. Madison Street United Methodist Church and First Baptist Church have both agreed to allow people to park in their parking lots downtown. CTS will be making an additional stop near the Baptist Church parking lot to pick up people going to the celebration at Liberty Park. All surface parking and parking in the parking garage at 3rd and Commerce Streets will be free after 5:00 p.m.
The parking lot at the Big Lots shopping area on Riverside Drive will also be open for parking. A CTS shuttle will run through this location to Liberty Park. It is expected that this lot will fill quickly and once the lot is full, the shuttle will not continue to pick up guests for transport to the park.
Additionally, the parking lot at Jostens, south of Liberty Park on Highway 48-13 will be open. The CTS buses will begin the free shuttle service to Liberty Park at 4:00 p.m.
Riverside Church, located at 1005 S. Riverside Dr., will offer parking in its lot in exchange for $5 donations, which will go to Manna Café Ministries. The trolley will stop at this location to transport guests to and from the show. Attendees are also welcome to watch the show from the parking lot, which will open at 5 p.m.
The buses will be marked before and after the event with their destination. At the conclusion of the fireworks show, CTS buses will begin returning guests to these parking areas with the last bus departing from Liberty Park promptly at 11:00 p.m.
Clarksville Police Department officers will be stationed at all major intersections in the area around Liberty Park and Riverside Drive beginning at 6:00 p.m. and continuing after the event. For safety reasons, pedestrians walking to the park are encouraged to cross at these intersections.
The availability of general admission parking spaces within the park will be closely monitored. Once those spaces are full, no one other than those with handicapped licenses or placards or boats will be admitted. Up-to-date information about parking availability within Liberty Park during the event will be posted on the following social media sites:
Parks and Recreation FB page: www.facebook.com/clarksvilleparksandrecreation
Mayor Kim McMillan FB page: www.facebook.com/mayor.mcmillan
Mayor Kim McMillan Twitter: @MayorMcMillan
CTS FB page: www.facebook.com/ClarksvilleTransitSystem
CTS Twitter: @ClarksvilleCTS
Event rules in Liberty Park:
• No roaming solicitation.
• No weapons.
• No pets allowed during event.
• No drugs or alcoholic beverages allowed.
• No fighting or foul language allowed.
• No personal fireworks.
• No personal grills.
For more details on the City of Clarksville’s Independence Day Celebration, visit http://www.cityofclarksville.com/events or call the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department at 931-645-7476.
Up to the minute parking information will be provided during the evening of July 3 through the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the Parks and Recreation Department, Clarksville Transit and Mayor McMillan’s pages.