ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-- St. Petersburg city officials are blaming the canceled firework show in Vinoy Park on the vendor.
- St. Pete blames vendor for canceled firework show
- Vendor admit to being late, offered to reschedule show
- City says they won't pay vendor and want a refund for event costs
The City's Leisure Services Administrator, Mike Jefferies, said they were in constant contact with the vendor the whole time and were shocked when told at the last minute that the show was not ready.
"Some of the weather they ran into, they got delayed and got backed up and they got to our show and didn’t have the time to set up properly," said Jefferies.
Jefferies says they have worked with the company, Creative Pyrotechnics, for 10 years.
The owner of Creative Pyrotechnics, E.J. Weppel, admitted that the staff was late, but he said they asked the city to reschedule.
"The firework finale was ready to go," said Weppel. "We asked the city to reschedule for tomorrow, and the city said that wasn't going to happen."
On the other side of the bay, that same weather threatened to dampen Tampa's firework show. Organizers considered canceling the show all together.
"We decided to not do that and see if we could get the show off and we did," said Jason Carroll, Executive Director of Friends of the Riverwalk. "We just started five minutes early at 8:55 and the fireworks ended at 9:03."
While some were disappointed with the Tampa Riverwalk fireworks, Carroll said he was pleased with how the show turned out.
St. Petersburg city officials went on to say they are not paying Creative Pyrotechnics, and they are seeking a refund for costs related to the fireworks show.
The City of Gulfport also hired Creative Pyrotechnics, but due to weather their show was rescheduled to Thursday evening.