News

Budget cuts put the kibosh on Fourth of July fireworks in Lantana last year, but that won’t be the case this year. Last month, the Town Council approved a $25,000 contract with Zambelli Fireworks Manufacturing to put on a 22-minute display set to music.
    The fireworks, set to go off at 9 p.m. July 4, will be launched on the Intracoastal Waterway from a barge supplied by GLF Construction of Miami. GLF, the contractor working on the $33.2 million Ocean Avenue bridge project, agreed to provide a free barge for the town’s fireworks for two years as part of a lease agreement with the town for using parts of  Bicentennial Park and Sportsman’s Park as a construction staging area.
    While budgetary constraints persist, the town took money out of reserves to do needed spruce-ups and updates on equipment — and for a Fourth of July celebration. Residents complained about the lack of fireworks last year.
    “We hope to have the barge as close to the bridge a possible so that the fireworks can be easily seen down East Ocean Avenue,” Town Manager Mike Bornstein said. “East Ocean will be closed at Oak Street and the plan is to have a band there with vendors and such along the length of the road heading to the parks.”
    There will be another band in the parks on the east end.  
    “Think of the celebration as being oriented east/west with the fireworks on the east
end near the bridge,” Bornstein said.
    The bridge is closed for reconstruction for two years.
  — Mary Thurwachter