Boise Entities Discuss Concerts

“With a large hit to our concert series it could reduce some of those services and programs that we are providing,” Erin Anderson, executive director of the Idaho Botanical Garden, told KTVB-TV. Anderson’s concern is a new proposal in which the City of Boise contracts with a promoter and puts together another concert series at a downtown park.

The concerts reportedly account for about twenty percent of the garden’s revenue.

“I feel like we should all be on a level playing field for competition and we don’t feel like we should be in competition with an organization the size of the City of Boise,” said Anderson. “We do not have the resources to compete with them.”

Anderson also told KTVB there is a city code that prevents charging admission for an event in a public park. “So what our concern is that creating a special agreement with a concert promoter, that that ordinance won’t be followed,” she said.

However, Boise Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway says that’s not true. He says high school baseball games and events like Art in the Park are often held in city parks and charge those attending. He also said that the code Anderson is referring to applies to non-city events. “There is no code requirement or code that doesn’t allow this type of venue in a park,” Holloway told KTVB.

He says if the proposal goes through, a portion of the ticket sales would go back into maintenance and improvements for city parks. The park would still be open to the public, with just one area sectioned off for the concert. Also, Boise Parks and Rec would plan their concerts at different times from Outlaw Field to avoid direct competition.