Contradicting earlier statements, the mayor’s office in Mobile, Alabama, came out strongly Monday denying reports that RV City, a Mardi Gras tradition, was closing down for good.
The gathering of RVs under a freeway bridge in downtown Mobile known as RV City is basically a growing tailgate with dozens of campers partying for weeks during Mardi Gras season.
It’s a Mardi Gras staple, but rumors started flying earlier this year that the campers would be shut out of their spot underneath the bridge by the civic center, reported myNBC15.
While being questioned about another Mardi Gras controversy, Mobile mayor Sandy Stimpson was also asked, “Camper city thing is a done deal, right?”
Mayor Stimpson said, “I think it’s a done deal and that’s really a safety issue, fire code more than anything else. If there had been a fire in there based on how they were stacking those campers in there, it would have been devastating, not only to the people in and around them, but to the bridge above it. So I mean, it’s something that desperately needed to be done and had grown over time and not been noticed.”
Director of Public Safety James Barber also spoke on the RV City issue. He said, “The water supply, being able to get to campers, and you gotta realize that these campers are directly under the interstate and I believe it was Atlanta that had a catastrophe.”
He was also asked if it was a “done deal, and if they were gone, if they’re out of here?” “That is my understanding,” said Barber.
The city of Mobile released a fiery statement from the mayor today reading, “Let me set the record straight. The city has not made a decision to close RV City, and any reports that it’s permanently closed are false and should be disregarded.”
Instead, that statement goes on to propose reorganization for safety purposes, something not mentioned in those two interviews on Friday.