Wauwatosa had a plan for Fourth of July this year. It involved a drone light show. The reactions were mixed at best.
So in September, Wauwatosa officials discussed a new plan for next year's festivities. That proposal involved a possible partnership with West Allis on a big July 4 fireworks show located in that neighboring municipality to the south. The response ranged from underwhelming to irate.
"Find another location in Tosa!!!" one commenter urged on Facebook.
This week, city leaders tried again to check the right boxes.
Fireworks? Check.
On July 4? Check.
In Wauwatosa? Check.
Wauwatosa Police Chief James MacGillis outlined the latest fireworks option at an Oct. 23 meeting of the city's Civic Celebration Commission. He said he and other city leaders looked at several possible locations and found that it may be possible to stage the fireworks program on Swan Boulevard where it crosses the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's retention ponds, just south of Hoyt Park.
Police would close that portion of Swan Boulevard for the show, MacGillis told the commission, and "all of the surrounding property is public land, open land."
In consulting with fire officials and the Department of Public Works, they determined that the region encircling those retention ponds would provide police and fire access through the walking paths, a wide range of potential viewing locations, ample parking and close proximity to Tosa's central neighborhoods, and it would pose less risk of embers falling on homes, businesses and public infrastructure than at Wauwatosa's traditional Hark Park location for the fireworks show.
In assessing all available options, "this was the best one we came to," Assistant Fire Chief Barbara Kadrich told the commission.
That is a sharp shift from last month, when commission members were optimistic that a partnership with West Allis would produce an even more spectacular fireworks display for both communities. Under that plan, Tosa and West Allis would have split the cost of a bigger fireworks display, likely hosted at West Allis' Nathan Hale High School.
Wauwatosa’s overall expense for Independence Day festivities in 2025 with the light show was about $80,000, and officials said hosting fireworks at Hart Park on the same day as the city's Independence Day Parade likely would drive that cost even higher because of additional police, fire and public works resources. But it was concerns in Tosa over public safety, staffing and cost that had made it unlikely fireworks ever would return to Hart Park.
Still, many residents have said they want a fireworks show on July 4 and they want it in Wauwatosa. City leaders said they still would have to work out some of the details of staging a program on Swan Boulevard. The commission voted in favor of that plan Oct. 23 so organizers can begin preparations.
"I like the creativity," Joseph Makhlouf, a member of the commission who also serves on the Common Council, said. "I think it solves a number of our problems."
