Amphitheater project still raises concerns

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

The planned $4 million amphitheater in the new Truman Waterfront Park received some significant push-back at the Jan. 18 Key West City Commission meeting.

But the concerns, which were repeated by several residents speaking at the Truman Waterfront Advisory Board meeting a week later, came too late to stop the project. City commissioners voted 4-2 to award a $3.7 million contract to D.L. Porter Constructors to build the musical venue, which will be able to seat an estimated 3,000 spectators.

Half of the construction cost – $300,000 has already been spent on the design – will be paid by a grant from the Tourist Development Council that will kick in 50 percent of the amphitheater’s cost up to $2 million. The city will contribute the other $2 million and has budgeted $4.47 million for the total project. But the cost of the project wasn’t the problem for some worried commissioners and residents. It was the fact that the city has yet to develop plans on how to handle traffic during large concert events, who will manage the venue and where the estimated $155,000 annual maintenance cost of the amphitheater will come from.

“You’re going to have an amphitheater out there before you have a park out there,” said resident Randy Becker. “And I have yet to hear a plan about how people are going to get to that amphitheater, how they’re going to park in adequate numbers.”

Becker was referring to the mid-September completion date for the amphitheater. While Phase 1 of the Truman Waterfront Park construction project is expected to be finished around the same time, Phase 2 won’t be done for several years after that.

Commissioner Billy Wardlow had the same concern. Saying he has supported the amphitheater “from the beginning,” Wardlow worried that construction is now set to begin before there is a business plan for how the venue will be booked and how much revenue is expected.

“I think we’re moving a little bit ahead of time. I think a business plan should be made before we award any bids to anybody to build it,” he said.

Commissioner Margaret Romero had similar apprehensions, saying an amphitheater was not part of the original waterfront park plans and that the project “has been hurried up” before important logistic details had been worked out.

“We have got to start running the city as the $171 million business it is,” she said, referring to the Key West annual operating budget. “To bring this forward without running these numbers by the Truman Waterfront Waterfront Advisory Board is reprehensible.”

But Mayor Cates disputed Romero’s claim that the amphitheater was not part of the initial park plans, saying the project has been under discussion for the past six years. And Commissioner Jimmy Weekley said it is standard business operating procedure to develop operating details while a venue is under construction. The two logistical sides can work along parallel lines, he said.

As for how many events will be booked in the amphitheater, city noise restrictions only allow a concert or other event to exceed set decibel limits once every 60 days. However, City Engineer Jim Bouquet said the amphitheater is designed to direct noise away from neighboring residences. And Mayor Cates said that he has heard from several promoters who are interested in the venue.

“We know it will generate money,” he said. “We know it will be very successful.”

But City Manager Jim Scholl said that the amphitheater is also designed to provide a site for local schools and other community organizations to use, probably without charge. The goal is to cover our annual maintenance costs, he said, not to provide “a big economic engine.”

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