The Magical Night Committee is looking at ways to bring more businesses and community out to the festival in 2024.
Tim Kelley and Gene Freiberger worked together recently to complete a hinged gate for the intersection of First Street and Hwy. 1 in uptown.
The goal of the gate is to allow a way for trolley cars to pass between that intersection safely, while still allowing for street closures for the festival and not using something like flimsy wooden barriers.
Kelley explained that the gate is one that had to be designed to be simple enough for people to operate.
“You couldn’t just have a single hinge, though, as it’s a 16-foot gate, we needed a compound hinge to allow for the gates to swing smoothly,” Kelley said. “Especially because we’re dealing with a tremendous slope in the middle of that street if we want a gate to open smoothly.”
The person manning the gate will have to reconnect a chain to a concrete barrier after the gate is closed, which was another feature that Kelley was designing, something that could work in subzero temperatures.
Freiberger said that once he and Kelley had a design of what they were looking to create, he approached 4-L in Lisbon about the needed materials.
“A huge shout out to Dan at 4-L Manufacturing for the materials,” Freiberger said.
Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Chief Doug Shannon said the goal would be for the gate to be located in the center of the First Streeet Intersection while avoiding impact to the sidewalk crossings, to allow people to more safely utilize those if they prefer walking at the uptown festival.
Committee chair Mary Evans, Freiberger and Kelley have noted it was a committee collaboration on this piece, and the gates could be used for additional festivals in the future as opposed to straight concrete pillars.
By allowing trolleys to freely pass between the intersections of Hwy. 1 and First Street, the committee hopes that encourages more people to attend the festival, but there are other changes and ideas the committee is looking at for the festival, including other ways to involve more businesses in the uptown and a potential other attraction.