A major change could be coming for the Belleville Santa Claus parade.
The Chamber of Commerce will ask city council Monday to change the route from north-south, to west-east.
In other words, the parade would run on Bridge Street, from the fairgrounds in the west end to the Bayview Mall in the east end instead of from Quinte Secondary down North Front Street and through the downtown on Front Street.
The Chamber says the parade has outgrown the staging area at Quinte Secondary, adding last year’s parade was the biggest ever. The fairgrounds is seen as having the room for a big parade to stage and the Bayview Mall is seen to be a much more spacious end point for it.
The new route will be longer and allow more people to enjoy the parade.
The Chamber expects this year’s parade to have 75 to 80 floats attracting a crowd of 7,000 to 10,000 people.
A survey of some in the crowd last year indicated people come from miles around to see the parade.
Belleville’s police service believes the new route would be better as far as safety is concerned.
Belleville council meets at 4 o’clock Tuesday at City Hall.
