City Land Purchase Threatens Salem Carnival

SALEM, MA -- When the city purchased the Derby Street property that had hosted the Haunted Happenings Carnival for several years it created a new problem: Where to host the carnival? The city purchased the Derby Street lot to build a park and made plans to move the carnival to Riley Plaza. But now city officials are worried the new location won;t offer enough parking given its location to downtown Salem during one of the busiest times of the year for the district.

"I find it very interesting that there is a problem regarding where the location of the carnival will be leading up to Halloween. There was a perfect location on Derby St that has been used for the last several years," Ward 4 City Councilor Tim Flynn wrote on his Facebook page, noting he had opposed the purchase. "In my opinion, I feel that when that land was bought it was the end of the carnival."

The carnival would take up 44 parking spaces during a time that of year when parking is notoriously tight in Salem with its annual flood of pre-Halloween visitors. Still, in a letter City Council, Mayor Kim Driscoll urged councillors to support the venue change, noting the carnival had generated $33,000 in revenue for the city and offered "a productive activity for youth."

The city, Driscoll said, would lose an estimated $2,000 in revenue from the 11 metered parking spots included in the area. A handicap spot would be relocated for the duration of the carnival. City Council, which does not meet again until September 13, sent the issue to its ordinance committee for review.

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