Criticism of proposed park amphitheater softens

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Anticipating possibly fatal pushback from critics of the new music amphitheater proposed for Truman Waterfront Park, city engineers presented a significantly scaled-back project to the Truman Waterfront Advisory Board.

While Key West City Commissioners will have the final say on what – and what doesn’t – end up in the final park design, the park advisory board’s opinion will carry a significant amount of weight. And the original $7 million estimate for the amphitheater, part of an estimated $58.5 million total cost of the new park, has received a less-than-enthusiastic reaction from some commissioners and park advisory board members.

But City Engineer Jim Bouquet presented the advisory board with a smaller and less expensive draft design on June 20, this one costing an estimated $4 million. Funding would come from a grant from the Tourist Development Council that would pay 50 percent of the amphitheater’s cost up to $2 million. The city would kick in the other $2 million.

“I know that I was 100 percent against anything to do with the whole amphitheater,” said Truman Waterfront Advisory Board member Ricky Arnold, Jr. “It seems like you all changed quite a bit from what I’d originally seen.”

“Yes, we have,” Bouquet responded. “We’ve tried to make something that is simple, relatively straight-forward to maintain, very functional… And we’re trying to reduce the price by $3 million.”

The draft design, which still has to be finalized and bid out to contractors, calls for an open-air, covered bandstand with a paved section directly in front that could hold 570 semi-permanent seats. Seating for another approximately 1,000 people would be on a grass berm behind the seats. It would be located to the south of the existing Florida Keys Eco Discovery Center, along a planned new road leading to a new entrance to Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park. The stage itself would face the water.

Parking for concert and event attendees would be on the other side of the new road, in a grassy area. A modular bathroom would be installed and used for small events such as graduations but temporary bathroom facilities would have to be brought in for bigger concerts. There would also be space provided for vendor booths, a paved lot right behind the stage for VIP parking and equipment load-in, and a basic microphone system.

“What we found from research is these promoters and concert folks, they bring in their own equipment. So we just need to make sure that they’ve got the infrastructure, if you will, to be able to hang and direct those various sound and lighting facilities,” Bouquet said.

While there are other city agencies that have to sign off on the design concept, including the Historic Architectural Review Commission, Bouquet said the intent is to bid the project out this fall and complete construction by September 2017.

Park advisory board members were pleasantly surprised with the new design, indicating they might now be in favor of the amphitheater.

“It seems like we’ve kind of met in the middle,” Arnold said. “It’s almost like a bandstand, kind of what I was asking for months ago.”

“I like it,” said board member Richard Tallmadge. “We’re moving in the right direction.”

Advisory Board Chair Robert Cintron, Jr., was a little more circumspect.

“I want to see the final design as well as these bathrooms and everything. I’d like to see all that before I can say I like it. But I do like the concept,” he said.

Bouquet said he would bring a final amphitheater design back to the park advisory board for its approval.

Actual work on Phase 1 of the waterfront park began last December. The first phase of the project should be completed in 2.5 years and is expected to cost close to $19 million. Currently the city has approximately $16.5 million set aside for Phase 1 and will contribute another $2.5 million each year going forward. The cost of the entire park is estimated at $58.5 million and will need significant grant and other funding sources to complete.

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