ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The City of St. Augustine may be darker next January, as the St. Augustine City Commission is set to vote on a resolution Monday evening that would reduce the length of the next Nights of Lights Festival by almost a month.
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Three million lights bring tens of thousands to St. Augustine each year, and businesses like Meehan’s Irish Pub have come to rely on the influx of tourists during the Nights of Lights Festival to make ends meet.
“2004 was a tough summer. By the end of Nights of Lights, by the end of the year, it really helped. It really saved us and took us back,” said Meehan’s Irish Pub owner Reggie Maggs.
It’s why Maggs and others in the city’s service industry are concerned about the potential to compress the upcoming festival.
Normally it runs from late November through late January, but the resolution would end the next festival in early January.
“There’s 100 employees here at Meehan’s and those couple of months of the Nights of Lights is when all those employees are trying to make some money to save up to pay their bills throughout the year because the summertime is so hot, it slows it way down,” said Maggs.
The resolution cites concerns surrounding street traffic as the motivation behind the change.
Specifically, the planned closure and demolition of the King Street Bridge.
But Maggs believes shortening the festival would only make the traffic problem worse.
He argued the same number of people would likely attend during a shorter time window, putting more strain on the streets and possibly overwhelming businesses like his.
“And it’s really going to cramp up things. It’s going to be very frustrating if they do it. It’s just going to be more difficult,” said Maggs.
Action News Jax is still waiting to find out what the commission ultimately does with the resolution.
We’ll update you on-air and online with the outcome.
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