Snow Could Reroute South Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade
BOSTON (CBS) -- South Boston's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade will go on as planned on March 15th, but with some changes due to the record-setting snow.
Organizers of the parade met with Mayor Walsh Monday night to iron out some of the details. Brian Mahoney, the Commander of the Allied War Council, says the 3.2-mile route will have to be reconfigured.
"We're all committed on going forward on the 15th but we have to finalize the best route to take," Mahoney said. "The route will be pretty much what it is right now there will just be some minor changes."
Mahoney would not elaborate on the potential route. "There's too many," he said. "Everyone has a twist or turn they'd like to omit or add."
On Monday morning, Walsh said the city was thinking about postponing the parade, but organizers quickly rejected the idea. The last time the parade was canceled was due to the Blizzard of '78, according to Walsh. He said he didn't want that to happen this year.
Read: Boston Snow Record Could Be Set This Week
"It's going to be difficult, at this point, to go through the neighborhoods as historically the parade has gone," Mayor Walsh said. "There's so many cars that have to be moved and snow has to be cleared. . . some of the cars haven't been moved in a month."
Organizers are confident they will get the snow cleared by March 15th. "My honest gut feeling is I think we can get it taken care of," organizer Tim Duross said. "My hope is we can keep it on the same route."
After the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl last month the city still held a victory duck boat parade, but Walsh says the situations are not the same.
"Big difference," Walsh said. "We didn't clear the whole route. . . we didn't have these snow piles that we have today."
Organizers will meet with Mayor Walsh again on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The parade will be a historic one, no matter what route it takes. Organizers voted in December to allow gay and lesbian veterans of the military to march openly in the parade for the first time in 20 years.
Walsh boycotted the event last year – just as his predecessor Tom Menino consistently did -- after the parade failed to include an LGBT group.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz:
WBZ-TV's Katie Brace contributed to this report.
