Salem looking for ways to save Movies at the Park, First Friday concerts

The proposed budget before the Salem Budget Committee contains several cuts due to the multimillion-dollar deficit in the city's general fund.

The cuts are anticipated to have a big impact on parents, kids and parkgoers.

Come summer, Movies at the Park, First Friday concerts and Kids Relays would no longer fill the city's parks. Crews would shut off irrigation to neighborhood parks, closing almost all of the city's splash pads, bathrooms and drinking fountains, and parching the vegetation.

"There are many children within this community that are being hit especially hard with this budget," said Andrew Cohen, a Ward 4 budget committee member and father of three, during an April 24 meeting.

He called the proposed cuts "the most unfriendly to families" budget in decades and urged the committee to find the funds to support programs like Movies at the Park and the Kids Relay races.

The committee is set to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss finding funds to avoid cutting the events. The meeting in Salem City Council chambers is open to the public.

The proposed cuts to the city's library , which would have resulted in closing the West Salem branch, cutting eight positions and the main branch's already reduced hours, were temporarily avoided due to a reallocation of money from the Cultural and Tourism Fund.

Other spending areas did not get the same reprieve.

If the cuts are approved, all splash pads and fountains except the one at Riverfront Park will shut down. The splash pads are popular sites for families looking to cool down in the summer heat and are routinely packed when temperatures reach the 90s in Salem.

"It's going to be tough on families," Cohen said.

Irrigation, bathrooms and drinking fountains at neighborhood parks would close. Playground equipment and the ability to repair amenities would also be reduced. The elimination of most seasonal staff would mean litter, full trash cans and overgrown vegetation would become more commonplace at parks.

The cuts are set to save $109,000 from irrigation, $132,000 from park maintenance and $25,000 from splash pads.

Cohen said he expects families to look to nearby cities for events like Movies at the Park and amenities like splash pads.

"It's not going to be as attractive to parents and they're going to look to other communities," he said. "Salem is going to miss out economically, I guarantee it."

Cohen previously put forward a motion to consider using the Transit Occupancy Tax's Cultural and Tourism Fund to save the Movies at the Park, First Friday concerts and Kids Relays.

The city attorney said he didn't think the funds could be used for those events because they did not qualify as tourist attractions.

The committee on Wednesday will discuss finding funding to avoid cutting the events, including Councilor Virginia Stapleton's motion to move $75,000 from the Business Retention and Recruitment/SEDCOR line item to the Parks Department to fund Movies in the Parks, Kids Relays and other events.

If the cuts prevail, Cohen said, people will be in for a hard summer and rude awakening when the parks, amenities and events that previously made Salem attractive to residents and visitors are no longer available.

People considering moving here might look to the surrounding cities. Companies thinking of relocating might have second thoughts, he said.

"Salem is self-sabotaging itself," he said. "(Leaders) need to focus on making Salem a place where people want to come and stay and not want to leave."

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth .

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem looking for ways to save Movies at the Park, First Friday concerts