Naples St. Patrick Parade canceled due to soaring security costs

NAPLES, Fla.— Downtown Naples has lost one of its annual traditions. The Naples St. Patrick Parade, a staple for nearly 50 years, has been canceled.

The parade's cancellation was announced on Facebook by the Naples St. Patrick Foundation. WINK News reporter Maddie Herron spoke with Kim Heaslip, the foundation's president, who shared that the security costs for this year's event were insurmountable.

"When we put our application in, we then learned that the city of Naples Police Department put a guideline for all events downtown that they need to barricade the entire route. So our fee for barricades went from four or five thousand dollars to $43,000," said Heaslip.

The city of Naples denied the foundation's request to have the fees waived. Heaslip explained that the rising costs made it impossible for the volunteer-based nonprofit to afford the parade.

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"That's when we thought, we can't sustain this," said Heaslip. "It's something that I didn't feel right raising money to pay for city costs, to give them 70-ish thousand dollars in fees before I'm able to help any program."

Heaslip noted that the approximately 70 thousand dollars in municipal fees consisted of about 25 thousand dollars for emergency service staffing, and 43 thousand dollars for a fully barricaded parade route.

The parade supports programs like youth bands, college scholarships, and other nonprofits. Dale Mullin, last year's grand marshal, emphasized the parade's significance beyond celebration.

"We provide assistance, services and programs for our veterans in our community," said Mullin.

Mullin added that the parade helped raise awareness for his charity, Warrior Homes of Collier.

"I still hear people comment about that. We saw you last year. We saw your organization. We know more about Warrior Homes now, and it really does a lot," said Mullin.

Despite the cancellation, Heaslip shared that the community's support has been overwhelming, with some offering donations.

"I was canceling the parade because it didn't make sense for us anymore, unfortunately, and we wouldn't be able to sustain this on a yearly basis. But what I'm hearing from the community has really been overwhelming to me," said Heaslip.

Heaslip remains hopeful for the future of the parade, though the situation remains uncertain.

"It's a very polarized situation this year, so if we raise the money this year, the city may not help us again next year, and then we're sort of in that same sort of circular motion," said Heaslip. "So there's a lot of discussions to have. I have a board that we need to sit down and talk to, and I'm in contact now with the City Council, and I think things are going to go in a positive way. I really am hopeful."

WINK News reached out to the city of Naples for answers regarding the increase in security fees and potential solutions for community groups to offset these costs. A spokesperson said their team is working to provide more information.