Three firms apply to manage Key West amphitheater

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

And then there were three.

Of the original 12 companies initially expressing interest in managing the Truman Waterfront Park amphitheater, three have submitted formal proposals to run the concert and event facility. One of the applicants is a local company with the other two located on the mainland.

The local company is Nadene Grossman Enterprises, doing business as “We’ve Got the Keys,” a travel and tour company. Grossman-Orr took over managing Fantasy Fest last year and also produces the Key West Songwriters Festival. She is one of the founding producers of the Key West Film Festival.

Frameless Creative, out of Miami Beach, submitted an application with The Rhythm Foundation. Frameless Creative is run by Paul Peck, the co-founder and head of programming for the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival, and concert promoter Steve Sybesma, who also worked on the Okeechobee festival. Frameless Creative LLC was created on Aug. 7, 2017. According to an Internet search, Peck also helped launch the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in 2002 and has created and produced a variety of original content for TV and the web.

The third applicant is Klass-Ex, LLC, a two-and-a- half year old company based in Miramar, FL. An Internet search turned up no additional information on Klass-Ex.

The applicants are vying for an initial two-year contract to manage the venue, with the possibility of extending that contract to six years. None of the proposed management fees in the three applications have been released yet, as they are under a non-public “cone of silence” while they are evaluated by an in-house selection committee. The committee is set to meet on May 8 and make its recommendation to Key West City Commissioners after a May 18 ranking meeting.

Twelve local and non-local companies attended an April 11 proposal meeting at City Hall. Several concerns were raised at that time, including one from Bill Muehlhouser, owner of the local firm Rams Head Productions, which books acts at the Key West Theater. Muehlhouser, who opted not to submit an application to manage the amphitheater, reportedly worried that national promoters wouldn’t be able to book multiple acts under one contract with the facility because city commissioners have to approve every event.

City Manager Jim Scholl said the winning applicant will be the city’s agent working with concert and event promoters and managing the scheduling of the new amphitheater. The manager will also be in charge of assuring there is a balance between bigger acts and local groups wanting to use the amphitheater for a variety of events, he said.

“With a pace we can obviously handle because we don’t want to overwhelm the facility with big rock and roll bands,” Scholl added.

The venue manager will also handle any noise complaints from area residents. Commissioners earlier agreed to grant a total of six noise exemptions a year for concerts at the facility. While each exemption can apply to a multi-day event, the exemptions have to be spaced at least 60 days apart. Scholl said that while noise exemptions have been granted to some of the concerts held at the amphitheater this year, sound levels stayed below city-mandated decibel levels.

“The sound has been way below the threshold for exceedance of noise,” he said. “That’s a testament to the [amphitheater] design.”

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