Under fire from a growing outcry, Springfield Mayor Mike Houston has backed away from a new policy stopping amplified music at outdoor downtown events by 9:30pm.
A statement from the mayor's office says the SoHo music festival in June, which had been directly threatened by the new policy, will be allowed to go on until midnight this year. But after that, future downtown events will have to end amplified music by 10:30pm.
The policy -- which was first disclosed by the mayor on 970 WMAY's "Jim Leach Show" -- prompted an angry response from SoHo fans and others who felt it was counterproductive to efforts to make downtown a more desirable destination for residents and visitors alike.
