No air show in Lauderdale this year
Spectators still asking about popular event
By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel 4:45 p.m. EDT, April 8, 2010
FORT LAUDERDALE
Reminder: There will be no air show this year. No Air & Sea Show. No Air Lauderdale. No air show at all.
The would-be operator of Air Fort Lauderdale Beach Fest canceled this year's production. It would have flown over Fort Lauderdale beach April 24-25.
Instead, spectators will have to drive to Key West's Naval Air Station this weekend to see the Blue Angels.
Stan Smith, who was trying to put the show together, faced an uphill battle recreating the popular show in Fort Lauderdale.
The old Air & Sea Show ran for 13 years but ended after the 2007 show, when the title sponsors pulled out.
Smith wasn't able to get enough money and sponsorships to bring the show back. He also couldn't secure a $1 million bond the city of Fort Lauderdale required; the city wanted to be sure the police officers and other city personnel would be paid.
"We had to make sure our police and fire costs, our cleanup costs and everything were protected,'' Mayor Jack Seiler said in a radio interview on 850 WFTL. He said he didn't think the bond was a "stumbling block'' and noted that it was on the table since last fall. Only recently did Smith reveal the show was in trouble.
Smith said community leaders and city government must come together, "almost like an Olympic committee'' would, to solve the financial problem before asking the military to come back for a future air show. Requests for military planes must be made by the end of July, he said, but the military doesn't give its answer until December.
Seiler said he's known Smith "for years'' and hopes he can get the show together for 2011.
"The challenge, the problem,'' said Smith, "is the economy. It's the money.''
On the Air Lauderdale page on
Facebook, fans were upset about the cancelation. Spectators continue to contact the Sun Sentinel asking about the show.
"This was my #2 reason for living in FLL
,'' wrote Gino Salvatore Romano on Facebook. "What a disappointment.''
