Springfield readies for busy weekend with triathlon, Pride parade, convention, graduations

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SPRINGFIELD — Visitors should buckle up for a busy weekend downtown with tens of thousands of people expected to converge for multiple major events.
The Pride parade, block party and You Ball is expected to attract some 10,000 people on Saturday, and the Ironman competition will bring in more than 1,300 competitors, plus family and friends who will watch on Sunday. And that's just a start.
The Massachusetts Veterans of Foreign Wars is holding its 105th convention, restaurant week is kicking off, MGM is offering a free concert, the Springfield school district is hosting its third Family Expo for its 23,700 students and their families, and there are multiple graduations and one prom scheduled, said Springfield Police Lt. Brian Elliott, who is part of a team of police who have been preparing for months for one of the city's busiest weekends of the year.
Elliott said, yes, there will be traffic, especially with the road closures from the Pride events and Ironman, but the city is prepared, and there will be police in cruisers and on bikes at the ready, and others stationed in key areas to keep vehicles moving.
'It's a good problem to have. Things are beginning to jell in Springfield,' he said.
When asked if so many events benefit the city or just cause chaos and turn people off, most agree with Elliott.
'I say, 'Bring it on,'' Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said. 'As long as we can cover it logistically, the more the merrier.'
Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she only sees good things coming out of the combination of events. With many athletes coming a day or more early, for example, she said they can take advantage of the city's restaurant week.
Neither she nor Sarno said they are worried about parking, especially with the recent opening of the new 817-space parking garage across from the MassMutual Center. There are also multiple other garages and on-street parking spots scattered across the city.
'A lot of activity shows the city is vibrant, which is good,' Wydra said. 'People will say, 'Wow, I want to come back here.''
Sarno urged people to be patient with the traffic, but added police, fire, Public Works and parks employees all have been working together for weeks and even months to develop a logistical plan to ensure everything goes smoothly, so people have fun first.
On Thursday, about 75 people from area police and fire departments, state police, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, emergency medical personnel and others gathered in West Springfield to go over the final details of the Ironman competition on Sunday.
Some of the biggest road closures on Sunday will be the Memorial Bridge from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Hall of Fame Avenue between the bridge and State Street from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Main Street between Hall of Fame Avenue and Longhill Street between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Court Street will be closed on Saturday and Sunday, but there will be one travel lane left open to give people attending graduations easy access to Symphony Hall, Elliott said.
The race will go through seven communities, including Agawam, Southwick and Suffield, Connecticut. Public safety officials said they already have posted no parking signs along the route, and letters have been mailed to residents who live on the streets where cyclists will ride.
There were some concerns about cyclists' safety in the past, so race officials rode with police to review the route. They identified potential trouble spots, and those will have extra personnel to ensure everyone is safe.
There will be additional road closings in Springfield on Saturday because of the Pride parade and block party.
State and Main streets will be closed a little before noon for the parade, which will begin at Springfield Technical Community College, travel down State, turn onto Main Street and end on Worthington. The block party will follow at Stearns Square with a short section of Worthington and Bridge — between the park and Main Street — to be closed for the free event, said Taurean Bethea, president and founder of the Springfield Pride Parade.
Pride also has spent countless hours with city officials to develop a plan to ensure people can get in and out without problems.
'We have a great partnership with the Springfield Police Department, and we bring in our own security team,' he said. 'We are in trying times, and we want to make sure everyone is safe and protected.'
Like many, Bethea said he sees the busy weekend as more of a plus than a minus and said Pride is welcoming to everyone, so he hopes people who come to Springfield for the Ironman or the other events also will check out the wealth of entertainment at the block party.
He said he thinks there is plenty of places to park for all the events, especially with the new parking garage.
He also hopes those coming to the city to attend Pride will consider stay an extra day to watch the triathlon.
'I think it will be amazing,' he said. 'People get to see a weekend full of events from Pride (to) Ironman, and they get to see how great this city is.'
Ironman is owned by Advance, which also owns The Republican, MassLive.com and Reminder Publishing.
Read the original article on MassLive.