Boom! A high-rise perch for Lexington's Fourth of July fireworks.

Lexington capped its 2018 celebration of Independence Day with fireworks Wednesday night shot off of the 31-story, 410-foot Lexington Financial Center — widely known as "the Big Blue Building."

This was the first year the fireworks were launched off of the Financial Center.

The city had planned for the fireworks to be visible in 98 percent of the county, according to Terry Sweeney, president and CEO of the Downtown Lexington Partnership.

Despite the change in venue for 2018, some observers came away disappointed, taking to Facebook with comments that the fireworks in surrounding neighborhoods were better than the city's and on Twitter using hashtags such as FireworksOfShame.

According to previous Herald-Leader coverage, in 1984 and '85, the show was shot off Kincaid Tower — known to most as the Central Bank building — which at the time was Lexington's tallest building. The Financial Center opened in 1987. The city had to move the show after it could no longer afford the insurance costs.

Over the years, Lexington's main fireworks display has moved around the city, including the old home of University of Kentucky football, Stoll Field, and Masterson Station Park. In recent years, the show had been launched from property owned by RJ Corman, behind Rupp Arena, and then it got back to its UK football roots at Kroger Field (formerly Commonwealth Stadium) in 2016 and '17.

This story was originally published July 4, 2018 at 11:05 PM.