Features
City May Take Over Shed
With a projected $236,000 loss for the year, operations of the
The tourism director has been serving as the venue director by booking artists and recruiting sponsors. The city, which owns the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater, may hire a venue manager or contract with a venue operator, according to the Citizen.
At press time two shows were left in the season –
Peachtree City held a workshop meeting September 2 at which the majority of residents spoke in favor of the city maintaining control of the 2,500-capacity venue. Some citizens argued that an outside management company might bring in acts that could make some uncomfortable.
Councilman Don Haddix said he believes the city should hire a manager who has a “vested interest in making it profitable. If it doesn’t make a profit, they don’t make a profit,” according to the paper.
The current concert schedule books 10 artists for two nights each. Mayor Pro-Tem Cyndi Plunkett, who also sits on the tourism board, said the two nights per artist schedule “experiment” has failed.
The new plan is to book artists for just one show each but continue to feature 10 acts for the series. The Citizen reported this plan would not include a ticket price increase.
Former Mayor Steve Brown suggested shows could be “segmented” to cater to different demographics while one resident expressed concern about the ultimate fighting event hosted at the venue, saying it didn’t set a good example for children.
“I do believe whatever we put there has to have a PG rating and maintain a certain set of values,” Plunkett said, adding that, as a season ticket holder, she expects to approve of at least three of the five concerts in a given series.
If the concert series is reduced to one show per artist, Plunkett noted there must be a plan to accommodate season ticket holders who expect to sit in the same seats they’ve had for years, according to the Citizen.