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Carlisle Custom Import Nationals - Moved to Harrisburg!
Car meet hits road for Farm Show
Problems in Carlisle force move, changes
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
BY DAN MILLER
Of Our Carlisle Bureau
CARLISLE - Carlisle's troubles might become Harrisburg's problem.
A popular but trouble-ridden car show recently booted from Carlisle has found a new home in the state capital.
Carlisle Events, sponsors of the Carlisle Custom Compact Nationals, announced yesterday that the event will be held in the Farm Show Complex beginning in May 2004.
Carlisle Events, also known as Carlisle Productions, canceled the show after its last run in May, citing the number of arrests and complaints handled by police and the impact of the show on residents.
The show, at Carlisle Fairgrounds, historically drew a young crowd and there was underage drinking. Alcohol was not sold at the fairgrounds.
"The change of venue allows us to take the measures necessary to actively discourage attendance by those who caused the elimination of the Carlisle Custom Compact Nationals," said John Detrick, CEO of Carlisle Events. "We refuse to allow the actions of a small minority to eliminate a show that has become the best of its kind in the country."
The event planned for the Farm Show Complex on May 15 and 16 will be an alcohol-free event, sponsors said. Vendors will not sell alcohol at the request of Carlisle Events. The show will be indoors, and people will not be allowed to take alcohol inside.
Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed could not be reached for comment.
Becky Kunzman, a Carlisle Events spokeswoman, said "Carlisle" would most likely be dropped from the name of the event. Until a new name is chosen, Carlisle Events is referring to the event as "a sport compact car show."
The Carlisle Custom Compact Nationals began as part of a related import show. In three years, the compact show has become the fourth-most-profitable among the 10 collector car, truck and motorcycle events held by Carlisle Events at the fairgrounds each year.
The compact show is exceeded only by the spring and fall collector shows and the annual Chrysler event, Detrick said.
But sponsors have had to deal with increasing problems related to the popular event.
This year, Carlisle police made 200 to 300 arrests during the last show. Middlesex Twp. police made at least 200 arrests.
Detrick said Carlisle Events canceled the show within days of its closing after municipal officials and residents were promised that if the situation didn't improve, the show would not continue. But Detrick also pledged that Carlisle Events would not abandon its "youth-oriented audience."
The last three-day show drew about 45,000 people, including vendors and participants, Kunzman said.
The 2004 show will run two days instead of three. Because it will be held indoors, the show likely will feature more evening activities.
Detrick pledged the move indoors will not lead to a scaled-down version of the show.
"We definitely have room to grow," he said. He noted that Carlisle Events plans to hold the event at the Farm Show for years to come.
The renovated and expanded Farm Show Complex is a good fit for the event, said Larry Weaver, Farm Show event manager.
"We now have about a million square feet of space, up from 650,000," Weaver said.
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