Those in charge will be the first to tell you that Halloween can be done better in Salem. But give Mayor Kim Driscoll and her staff credit for a willingness to try new things and a determination to learn from their mistakes as they look back at another October and start planning for the next one.
No question the weeks leading up to Oct. 31 are trying ones for those who live in Salem, and more so for those who live in the downtown neighborhood where most of the attractions are located. But to paraphrase a former ward councilor, if you don't like the fast pace and occasional hyperactivity of city life, you ought to be living someplace like Boxford, not Salem.
Much of the pre-Halloween controversy this year focused on the decision to bring in carnival rides. We've yet to hear exactly how much money this yielded for the city, but even without that revenue, the money the city brings in from parking receipts, Witch House admissions, and fees charged vendors more than offsets the cost of policing the event. In fact for last year, the city's balance sheet shows it made a net profit of $119,088 after deducting for police, fire, public works and related expenses.
And those figures don't take into account the tremendous economic activity Halloween generates for Salem businesses. Many would not make it through the year, were it not for October's receipts.
Strangely, there are some who seem to pine for the days when the Essex Street pedestrian mall became a barren expanse the day after Labor Day, and every other storefront had a vacancy sign. You can visit many other older urban retail districts for that experience - and we bet their mayors would dearly love to have an event like Haunted Happenings that kept stores, restaurants and parking facilities full for a month each autumn.
The naysayers were also quick to focus on the two stabbings and shooting that took place Halloween night.
Those incidents were, of course, unfortunate, but all involved local house parties, rather than out-of-towners who had come to the city in search of trouble. Overall, police made only half as many arrests as they had the year before.
The parade and fireworks display that were supposed to signal the close of the festivities Halloween night didn't work exactly as planned; since after viewing the pyrotechnics at the Salem train depot, many revelers simply turned to go back downtown whether to retrieve their vehicles or continue their partying. That part needs some work, and both Driscoll and police Chief Robert St. Pierre say they already have some thoughts on improving crowd control next year.
Better advertising of public transportation options, and the use of satellite parking lots in neighboring communities with shuttle service from the train station might be considered.
Driscoll insists, on the other hand, that features like the carnival on Derby Street, and games and food vendors on the Common helped attract more families to the event. If that was indeed the case, and the financial return was a plus for the city, perhaps consideration should be given to moving those rides to a less constricted location, like the Common or the lawn in front of Derby Wharf.
Over the past couple of decades, for whatever reason, Halloween has become a much bigger event not only here, but everywhere. And because of its connection with witchcraft, Salem will continue to be a major draw that time of year, regardless of how large or small a role City Hall plays in preparing for it.
The chance that there might be trouble is no reason to cancel an event that is a source of local pride and international renown. As the police chief points out, "If we applied that logic, we wouldn't celebrate the Fourth of July in Salem," noting how the annual concert and fireworks display at Derby Wharf draws people from throughout the region and is not without its share of problems.
Driscoll is right in wanting to make it work, rather than hoping it goes away.
