Annapolis Mayor, Mike Pantelides is weighing in on the latest controversy surrounding the possibility of the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium hosting the Nitro Circus Live this summer.
Nitro Circus is an “action sport collective” led by Travis Pastrana, an Annapolis native and Davidsonville resident, featuring his friends and him traveling around the world riding dirtbikes, base jumping, and performing stunts. It has spawned a tour, a second television series based on the tour, and a 3D feature film.
Since the inaugural tour of Australia four years ago, the show has traveled the globe, obliterating box office records and cultivating a legion of diehard fans.
The tour has now rolled across 5 continents, with sold-out shows in Australia, New Zealand, China, the United States, Canada, South Africa, and all across the European Continent. With more shows each year than ever before, Nitro Circus has a firm grip on the title of the World’s most successful action sports touring brand.
However, when Pastrana tried to bring the show to his hometown, Alderman Fred Paone advised local homeowner associations that the show would be excessively noisy and comprised of motorcycles, motorbikes, and scooters.
Pastrana took his disappointment to Facebook where he explained that the noise levels are not what was indicated by the Alderman and that the neighborhoods seemed not to be aware of what the event was, prior to voicing their opinions.
The pushback was severe and Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides heard from many constituents. In a phone call this afternoon, the Mayor and Pastrana spoke and have decided to take to the streets on Saturday and speak with individual homeowners in the Germantown-Homewood and Admiral Heights communities to gather their support after being given the facts. The Mayor’s office will be adding Nitro Circus to the City Council’s February agenda.
In a letter sent to us, the Mayor said he hopes to present all the facts to the homeowners to gauge their support or opposition.
The first conversation about Nitro Circus’ scheduled appearance was back in October of 2016 between Alderman Fred Paone and two of the homeowners associations. Just recently, information that had been decided months ago has come into the public arena for discussion.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, not ALL the information was brought forward in those discussions, and I feel it is only fair that updated information should be presented to the homeowners associations before a final decision is made.
I would also like to get a better understanding of how many of the 600+ homeowners in the Admiral Heights Improvement Association agree with the board members who made the decision to not permit the Nitro Circus at the Stadium, as well as in the Germantown Association.
While I feel that the decision has to be ultimately those who are impacted most by the event, I feel there are some unanswered questions about just what that impact would be, and until those questions are answered, I think we need to allow the discussion to remain open and active.
On Saturday, January 7, Travis Pastrana and I will be walking around the Admiral Heights area, knocking on doors, and talking to the residents about whether or not they support the event.
Meanwhile, I am also happy to offer our February’s City Council work session as a venue to have Nitro Circus come in and explain their event, which would be televised for all city residents to watch, as well as be live streamed on all mobile devices.
Please feel free to call me at 410-263-7997 if you have questions, or email me at [email protected] .
