“Slide the City” Salisbury Tries Again on July 9th Despite Last Year’s Poor Attendance. It’s Now Called “Slide the Other Side”

RFP Staff

♦ “Slide the City” Salisbury is trying it again on July 9th after last year’s poor attendance (somewhere in the ballpark of 250 to 300 persons tops) and low water pressure to the point where attendees were calling it “Walk the City” due to sliders being forced to get up and walk to get to a place where water was available. The three city blocks employed for the slide last year produced many stretches of dry spots. The persons charged with running the event blamed the slides lack of water on the city’s low water pressure. The fire department brought in two pumper trucks which remedied some of the problem. Many left early in frustration.

Now Slide the City Salisbury has rebranded itself “Slide the Other Side” because this year’s slide will start out on North Main Street at the top of a very steep hill beginning near the square and sending sliders flying down a somewhat precipitous inline at high-speed. This same hill was used for soapbox derby races in the past that started out around where the Plaza is located.

If someone, say over two hundred pounds plus, comes barreling down that hill at blur speeds, it could send a youngster or even an adult flying on impact. Too steep an incline is as much a bane to “Slide the City” events as are flat and low water pressure venues are. Persons who objectively look at the North Main Street 1000 yard hill say it may among the steepest inclines ever encountered at any “Slide the City” event. Great for the adrenalin junkes among us, not so great for youngsters and adults of lesser stature who get caught in the path of an uncontrolled mass barreling down the hill.

Wipe the imagery of 300 pound drunk flying down North Main at break-neck speeds and a six year old in his path. Cut to a head trauma unit or a spinal cord injury center where a youngster blinks at mommy with a 1,000 yard stare. Forget it–nothing ever “negative” ever happens in the City of Make Believe. Look on the bright side! Some Salisbury attorneys may find some “ripe plums” in the Emergency Room at Novant or Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.

DSI recently claimed 1,800 attendees last year which is hokum. RFP photographs from last put that spin to rest. Know that the same spokesperson touts that Downtown as vibrant when it is generally a ghost town with little pedestrian or vehicular traffic during much of the week. Many store fronts remain empty or are filled with recycled good shops. Retail and restaurants regularly go in and out of business due to the Downtown’s extreme overhead: The highest municipal district tax in North Carolina, onerous historic codes, water and sewer bills jacked up because Fibrant did the “big gulp” on the city’s water and sewer funds, Over-priced anti-consumer leases, storm water fees, vandalism where your building could have its windows rocked or walls gang-tagged, and street crime occurring with too much regularity.

All you need to qualify for Slide the City to be over 5 years-old, 46 inches tall, and have some lucky bucks to squeeze together to pay up. If you are a local college student you may get in free in the last hour or two like what happened last year. You have to pony up for your tube. The FREE college students, who showed at the end of last year’s “walk the city”, also got in group photo taken as they stood in line.

Since the city of Salisbury government is a partner in “Slide the Other Side” perhaps they could fund a lot of FREE tickets for the city’s many underprivileged youth.

The August 29th Rowan Free Press Article: “Slide the City” Salisbury, N.C., Plagued by Low Water Pressure and an Estimated 250 Attendees Tops, Deemed a Fizzle“:

“In what must have been a disappointing day for both sliders and Downtown Salisbury Inc., Salisbury’s “Slide the City” was plagued from the start by low water pressure, disappointing attendance (an estimated 250 to 300 attendees tops all day), and many areas of the slide so shallow that people had to get up and walk many yards to find a place to begin sliding again.

Chuck Hughes of Salisbury showed up to watch the sliders and was taken back by the low attendance. He estimated between 250 and 300 people max showed up all day for the event. Others called us and came came up with estimates between 200 and 300 throughout the day. Drone shots and photographs taken over the course of the day verified this estimation.

The alleged 2000 tickets reported sold did not come close to matching the minimal number of actual attendees. Surely Slide the City and Downtown Salisbury Inc. absorbed a loss.

We applaud Downtown Salisbury Inc. for going forward with venture in spite of numerous red flags from dozens of cities across the United States who cancelled Slide the City and TV News exposes who slammed the “Slide”.

Some youngsters and adults appeared to enjoy themselves despite the many shallow areas of the slide where people were forced to get up and walk to find a slide worthy surface. Persons attending the slip and slide were calling it “Walk the City”.

The Slide the City volunteers worked feverishly against the clock to set up the 1,000 yard slide, belly high metal fences, and bringing in two Salisbury Fire Department pumper trucks, on either side of the street, to overcome the city’s low water pressure. The Fire Department saved the day from being a fiasco.

Injuries occurred mostly from impact hits in the right lane. People limped away from the slide. Others sported cuts and abrasions from being spilled on South Main Street or being rammed by persons speeding down the first incline. One fellow was grimacing and holding his shoulder after a blow. A boy took a bad spill and struck his head hard. He bravely received treatment from the Salisbury Fire Department. Kudos to the Salisbury Fire Department! Surprisingly only a few drunks showed up mostly in the late afternoon.”

Here are numerous photos taken by folks in Salisbury and Rowan County:

A drone photograph of the line leading up to the start of the slide: