Remnants of SnowGlobe staying until snow leaves

By Kathryn Reed

SnowGlobe has gone from a noise nuisance to a visual eye-sore.

Remnants from the three-day musical festival in December are beginning to make a section of Al Tahoe Boulevard look blighted. And it’s bound to just look worse as the snow melts.

City officials and the promoter are saying the snow after the conclusion of the last show on Dec. 31 prevented vendors from picking up their stuff.

“We are working with our South Lake Tahoe based production team daily, monitoring for changes in the snowpack that will allow us a window of opportunity to safely continue our load-out as planned,” Chad Donnelly, SnowGlobe promoter, told Lake Tahoe News. “It’s hard to know exactly when that will be — but as soon as that day arrives, we’ll be on it.”

SnowGlobe items, including the structures in the back, remain more than two months after the event. Photo/LTN

According the promoter, the stage was down Jan. 2 and the shipping containers were removed approximately one month ago.

May is likely when everything will be removed. That is what the city has previously said.

In the meantime, residents get to look at what’s been left behind from this city-sanctioned rave. The chain link fence that was put up to keep people out is falling. In places it looks like dangerous twisted metal.

Just inside the grounds, which are not completely fenced off, is a pallet of bottled water. Empty wood pallets are stacked nearby. Machinery and portable buildings are also inside the event space.

Then there are the orange cones that had been put near the school district’s bus barn and the entrance to the jail for those walking to the venue. They are starting to show as the snow melts. It’s obvious some of have been chewed up by snow removal equipment.

Donnelly placed responsibility for leaving behind a mess on one of the vendors.

“The modular offices are property of United and I’ve been told they aren’t able to transport them in inclement weather due to CHP regulations. The vast majority of the issues are attributed to one vendor’s inability to get to the site on the scheduled load out days, remove their assets without damaging them and finally transporting them,” Donnelly said.

The fence for SnowGlobe is a pile of metal in many places. Photo/LTN

This is a brand new field that taxpayers paid for with the assumption it would be used for sports. So far, it’s only use has been for the music festival.

The sod won’t go in until the garbage beneath the snow that SnowGlobers left behind is picked up. Then the local residents will finally get to use what it is theirs.

The city said no environmental hazards are expected from what is sitting on the field.

“The contract states that the applicant must return to the site following all snow melt to ensure complete clean up. We have a $25,000 deposit from the producer to ensure this is complete,” City Manager Nancy Kerry told Lake Tahoe News.