An event organizer for Slide the City Fort Myers apologizes to ticket buyers for abrupt cancellation following failures to secure event permit.
The event, which allows users to slide down 1,000 foot water slide, was scheduled for September 17th on the Edison Bridge in Fort Myers.
Event organizers began advertising the event and selling tickets in June prior to receiving the permit from the Florida Department of Transportation(FDOT) which owns and manages the bridge.
An event permit application for Edison Bridge was submitted to FDOT by the City of Fort Myers on behalf of 'Slide the City,' according to FDOT spokesperson Zach Burch. However, Burch says the proper documents were not submitted to the department therefore voiding the permit request.
"Far as I know, we have never said anything along the lines that a permit was approved. We certainly have never sent them an approved permit, and we've never sent anything to the city that said it was approved either," says Burch.
Event organizers continued to sell tickets and advertise the event on the bridge despite not having a permit.
The Operations Manager told Fox 4 news the company believed the permit was going to be approved so they kept ticket sales going. He says when it was clear they weren't getting the permit the venue was moved to Veteran's Park in Lehigh Acres.
"We made the decision on Friday the [Sept] 9th to move the event to Lehigh Acres," said Bryan Schouman, Operations Manager Slide the City.
The event was advertised as being relocated to Veteran's Park, however Slide the City had yet to obtain a permit for the new location.
Tuesday the permit application for Slide the City in LeHigh Acres was also denied.
Schouman says they continued to sell tickets because they again expected the permit to be approved.
"I want to apologize; I feel bad that anyone is upset and feels that they are upset, and they were taken advantage of that's clearly not what happened," said Schouman.
The company says it plans to file the proper documents to obtain an event permit for Edison Point Bridge.
They are offering full refunds to all customers. Use email addresses below to request refund.
jsc@slidethecity.com
bryan@slidethecity.com
