The Virginia Railway Express parking deck in Manassas will not be open to spectators on the Fourth of July.
The Manassas City Council opted not to act on a resolution to open the deck on the recommendation of Manassas Police Chief John J. Skinner.
In May Skinner recommended closing the deck to parking and to spectators who wanted to watch the fireworks from the deck during the holiday celebrations in Old Town Manassas.
After the recommendation, the council received requests from residents to leave the deck closed to parking but open it to spectators, according to city documents.
Skinner, the city attorney, fire marshall and fire and rescue chief reviewed the matter again and deterimined that the deck was not designed for public assembly.
In a presentation to the council Monday, Skinner told the council that the deck lacks adequate entrances and exits and was not designed for crowds, does not have smoke detectors, fire sprinklers or restrooms
Additionally Skinner told the council that the design of the lower floors of the deck would offer limited views of the fireworks anyway.
Skinner said people might be tempted to climb over or go around the deck’s safety rails for better viewing
Manassas Mayor Harry J “Hal” Parrish, II said the chief’s presentation was persuasive.
“The council heard loud and clear the concerns of our safety people — both police and fire and rescue — and decided not to take the issue further,” Parrish said.
While the top floor of the deck would be a fine vantage point for watching the annual fireworks, Skinner said the height of the perimeter walls of the deck were insufficient to protect people from falling in the press of a crowd.
Parrish said that the council could consider opening the deck next year if it can find that there are measures to make the deck safe for spectators.
“I think there will be some additional looking at what other jurisdictions do with their parking decks and how they do it, but for this year I think it’s probably not going to be open for either parking or use otherwise,” Parrish said.
Manassas Bureau Chief Keith walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.
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