From Frontier or Knoch, Naperville will have fireworks on July 4

Naperville is in line to have a Fourth of July fireworks show coordinated by the city, park district and organizers of a new festival that had to be canceled because of COVID-19 health precautions.

But the location of the show has yet to be determined.

The city council Tuesday night authorized organizers of The Naperville Salute to set off a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 4, from Frontier Sports Complex on the city's south side, near Neuqua Valley High School.

But council members also authorized City Manager Doug Krieger to work with Salute organizers from the nonprofit organization Naperville Responds for Veterans on potentially choosing a different location. Several council members said they hope the display instead can be shot off from the traditional site of Knoch Park near downtown.

Keeping the fireworks display near the city's commercial center could help shops hurt by the pandemic shutdown as well as by a June 1 protest that turned destructive and a few other protests that have caused street closures, city council members including Paul Hinterlong said.

"We're trying to bring more life to our downtown," Hinterlong said. "I think it's only fitting that we have it down here and keep the people here to enjoy the ambience of the downtown before the fireworks go off."

The city worked with Salute organizers to find a site outside of the downtown, however, because festival organizers wanted to increase the altitude of the show so people could see it from further away, City Clerk Pam Gallahue said.

A higher-altitude display would require a larger fallout zone, and there is not enough space available at the usual launch site at Knoch Park, Gallahue said. Frontier Sports Complex also could provide nearly 2,000 parking spaces and more grassy area for groups to watch at a safe social distance from each other.

Warren Dixon III, co-chairman of The Naperville Salute, said organizers' preference originally was to keep the fireworks in Knoch Park. But working with the city, fire department and park district, Frontier became the consensus as the best site.

Dixon said organizers don't have a strong preference for or a vested interest in a particular location; they only want to coordinate logistics between the city, which is funding the roughly $40,000 show, and the fireworks company Melrose Pyrotechnics to provide a patriotic celebration.

"If it goes off, it'll be a pretty spectacular show," Dixon said.

City staff members plan to coordinate further with Dixon and the rest of the Salute organizers about the launch location.

Mayor Steve Chirico said he understands the "sentimental value" of keeping fireworks downtown if possible, as that's where organizers of the Exchange Club of Naperville's Ribfest shot them off for three decades before the festival planned a 2020 move to Romeoville, then called it off because of the pandemic.

"Given everything that's changed," Chirico said, "it would be nice for something to be consistent."