In a report to the City Council, the city disclosed that it spent $25,239 on the “Beehive Bridge Festival” in September, 2024.
The report was in response to a Council petition filed by Council Majority Leader, Ald John McNamara (D-4). In New Britain, Council petitions are a process by which individual Council members can require reports from city departments or require them to consider taking a certain action.
In the report, the city disclosed that three city departments incurred direct costs for the event. The Public Works Department incurred $2,656.63, city Police spent $2,207.28 and Parks and Recreation spent $995.40.
The report also said that the city spent $5,143.90 on a zip line.
The band cost was $3,500, another $3,500 was spent on sound and lights and $300 on a magician.
There was $2,816 spent on barricades and $2,766 was spent for tables and chairs.
Other expenses included $902 for advertisement and $450 for event signage.
The city advertised the event as free, and the only revenue listed in the report to the Council was $300 from food trucks.
However, the city’s advertisement for the event solicited attendees to “reserve a private event table for 8 people for $100”, stating that, “All proceeds will be donated to the “Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund.” The advertisement also solicited donations to the “Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund” as part of noting the event as free.
The city’s advertisement for the event also said that tickets for the zipline were $5.00 per person.
Editor’s note: The cover photo for the article is a photo, by Frank Gerratana, of a rendering of the bridge.
