×

Too Loud

Officials should regulate sound system’s volume

The Elkins Town Square Amphitheatre, a recent addition to downtown which was created by the Elkins Rotary Club, saw very little activity this year. Due to the restrictions of COVID-19 this beautiful facility stayed dormant for much of 2020.

A lot of fundraising and hard work made this facility possible and hopefully the Amphitheatre will be used for many good purposes for many years to come. Bringing people together and celebrating the many good things and cultures Elkins has to offer is a wonderful experience in which we all need to participate.

However, the grand finale of Thursday’s Mountain State Street Machines Cruise In — a concert at the Amphitheatre — begged the question of who should monitor the volume of events taking place at the venue, and who decides when the volume needs to be turned down?

There were no sports spectators at Robin Harvey Field Thursday evening but if there had been, those in attendance could have been entertained by the music coming out of the Amphitheatre. The volume was so high the music could be clearly heard by residents throughout town.

The Town Square is designed to be the epicenter for Elkins but listening to music one mile away is a little excessive.

It was noted in Thursday evening’s Elkins City Council meeting that the Cruise In marked the first use of the new downtown sound system. The replacement of the decades-old sound system was spearheaded by the Our Town group, and the new system was purchased by the City of Elkins.

We hope there will be some consideration for volume restrictions to be set in place before the sound system is in full use in years to come. If not, it is entirely possible the City of Elkins could see class action lawsuits down the road.

The simple solution would be to reduce the volume and it should be City of Elkins officials who make this happen.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $3.92/week.

Subscribe Today