Milwaukee's July 3 lakefront fireworks canceled for 2021

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --- Milwaukee's July 3 fireworks display on the lakefront is canceled for 2021. Officials say it should return for 2022. County leaders say they do not have the staff for the event. 

"Right here in Milwaukee County, we do have a shortage of parks department staff, and so we don’t have the capacity to actually pull this event off in a safe manner, and so that was one of the reasons why we decided to postpone, or cancel, the July third event," said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. 

More than 100,00 people will miss out on the fireworks over Lake Michigan. 

“Our team at Milwaukee County Parks is working tirelessly to ensure that people can safely enjoy parks, trails and amenities as much as possible this summer, but we are still stretched thin,” Guy Smith, Milwaukee County Parks executive director, said. “Cancelling this event was a difficult decision that we’ve been discussing for months, with everyone involved, and we also looked at the possibility of postponing the event until the fall, but it comes down to simply lacking the resources and staffing needed to prepare and clean up from such a large-scale event.”

The seasonal staffing issue has created other problems for the parks department, like not having concession workers, lifeguards at the beach or maintenance for the parks. 

"We have to recognize that everything was shut down last year. So many of the people who work within our parks departments pretty much ended up finding jobs last year," Crowley said. 

Crowley is hopeful the parks department can turn around the staffing issues and host the event in 2022.