Organizers canceled the annual Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous classic-car show due to severe financial problems and cutbacks by the host city of San Bernardino, Calif., reported the San Bernardino County Sun and other media outlets Tuesday afternoon.
The newspaper reported:
The San Bernardino Convention and Visitors Bureau today announced its decision to suspend the annual car show for the year, citing financial difficulties.
“It was a gut-wrenching decision that we had to make, but we just didn’t have the resources to put it on this year,” said Jim Gerstenslager, chairman of the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s board of directors.
The document that announced the event’s suspension can be read here. The release indicated that Stater Bros. and organizers would try to revive the event in 2014:
In consultation with Jack H. Brown, Stater Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the decision was made that, in order to preserve the quality and integrity of the Rendezvous, the best course of action was to suspend the 2013 Stater Bros. Route 66 Rendezvous®.
“The cars are the stars,” said Brown, “and in order to continue to provide the participants and our visitors with a
safe and first-class car show we need to put the Rendezvous temporarily on hold so that we can come back bigger and better.”
The Rendezvous was scheduled for Sept. 19-22.
The bureau said the City of San Bernardino’s bankruptcy last year, plus the elimination of California’s redevelopment agencies, have let the event with no money.
The city’s financial troubles were discovered mere weeks before the 2012 Rendezvous, and rumors flew that the event would be canceled. With the help of donations, the 2012 Rendezvous went on as scheduled, albeit with somewhat reduced attendance. The Rendezvous typically draws more than 500,000 spectators during the weekend.
UPDATE 2/20/2013: Organizers for the Rendezvous rebuffed advances from Ontario, Calif., to move the event there, according to the Redlands Daily Facts.
(Image from the 2011 Route 66 Rendezvous by dcarlson54, via Flickr)
I hate to see this, but it’s not a real surprise. Once an event grows to this size, the costs to run it become considerable.