A year of disappointments
The announcement follows other recent blows for Downtown.
Party on the Pavement would have taken place last Saturday, on Sept. 19.
“It’s certainly very disappointing as this normally brings 10 to 15,000 people to Downtown Racine and is crucial for Downtown businesses economic survival,” Kruse said in an earlier statement about the Party on the Pavement cancelation.
Over the summer, the annual Fourth Fest celebration was also canceled, with no fireworks. A traveling parade was held, but officials were not allowed to release the route to prevent crowds meaning when it traveled through Downtown only few people were there to greet it.
That followed cancelation of Racine’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. It had been scheduled for March 14, but was canceled two days before, on March 12.
The very next day after that parade was called off, the Central Racine County Health Department announced that a Racine County resident has contracted COVID-19 — the first case in the county to be reported.
Since then, the county has had a total of 4,585 confirmed COVID cases and 94 coronavirus-related deaths, according to Wednesday figures from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.