The Three Rivers City Commission Tuesday adopted a resolution to apply for the Michigan Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for its Public Gathering Spaces Initiative (PGSI) to help pay for a downtown outdoor amphitheater on the Portage River. The city is requesting $1,953,445 in CDBG funds along with local funds from the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) budget in the amount of $195,344.50.
Downtown business owner and resident Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma spoke to commissioners during the public comment portion of discussions, voicing his opinion on the decision regarding the amphitheater location. “I wholeheartedly support a public event space in our downtown — I think that’s a fantastic idea,” Vander Giessen-Reitsma said. “I just don’t think the location that has been chosen is the best location.” He said the west side of downtown already has a number of public-facing amenities, and has much of the infrastructure required for public event space, therefore the west side of the area would be a better design option.
Vander Giessen-Reitsma said he and his family live on the east side of downtown, but he is not concerned “whatsoever” about noise. He also said he wished there would have been a a public input session earlier in the process for various stakeholders. “Having said all these things, I will be more than happy if this goes through. I think a public space in our downtown would be a great addition,” he said.
At-Large Commissioner Lucas Allen questioned Vander Giessen-Reitsma about where he would prefer to see the amphitheater built. “The location that the Water Festival uses for the temporary stage for their event is a decent location because the bathrooms are right there,” Vander Giessen-Reitsma said. He also suggested removing the second half of the west side parking lot up to the skate park, making Memory Isle the backdrop of the planned event space. “The only time that parking lot is ever full is when it’s filled with carnival rides at the Water Festival,” he said. “I think we could utilize this public space right here that’s mostly surface parking in a more robust and community-oriented way.” Vander Giessen-Reitsma closed his public comment by saying he had no intention of being someone that stopped the project from moving forward, and repeated his support for a potential amphitheater downtown.
Chairman of the TRDDA Andrew George spoke next, and listed 10 benefits of having an amphitheater downtown. George listed reasons such as the way the space would attract tourism to the area, increase foot traffic downtown, enhance cultural offerings of the community, and improve the quality of life for residents by offering diverse entertainment options. “Most importantly,” George said, “it can serve as a catalyst for further involvement and revitalization downtown. It is a catalyst for progress.”
George then addressed many of the complaints from citizens who are upset the city has pursued a grant for an event space when other issues with the city exist. “I totally feel for these citizens,” he said. “We all want the roads fixed. We all want our pipes fixed, our water lines fixed.” He assured the public the DDA pursues every available infrastructure grant, but he felt they could not turn down the chance to apply for this particular opportunity.
The PGSI will award CDBG funding to eligible communities, and those communities will be required to provide a minimum of a 10% financial match based on the project’s total cost. At a city commission meeting on April 4 City Manager Joe Bippus said the DDA did not have the matched money for the grant, and the city could work out a payment option with the DDA to ensure the organization would not be hurt financially. “They’re coming into a point where they had some debt that’s coming off, and so they’re going to be able to use cash or tax revenue in their budget, which I want them to have that open flexibility to be able to spend downtown,” he said. “We could take $10,000 or $15,000 a year to help pay us back, and I assume no interest, if we get this grant.”
At Tuesday night’s meeting, George said he wanted to establish a few things that would represent “good faith” from the city in a financial agreement with the DDA. “We are very grateful the city is going to help us with that situation to make that possible,” he said. “In the meantime, in order to recoup those costs that we’ll be paying every year, things that we would like to see are (the DDA) obtaining the revenues from renting it and operations of the theater. We’d also like to see the city partake in maintenance of the amphitheater up until the loan is paid off, just to give the DDA the opportunity to actually recoup the costs of this 10% match.”
Commissioner Pat Dane asked George if the DDA had considered any other locations for the amphitheater, referencing Vander Giessen-Reitsma’s earlier statements. George said the location in Scidmore Park, the now-demolished old hospital, is not available as there are ongoing plans and ideas in the works for that area. “As far as the other side goes, there’s already been extensive planning to put the dog park there, including funds paid,” he said, adding there had also been considerable funds paid for the amphitheater on the east side of downtown. “The DDA has paid a little over $7,200 to have the architectural renderings and information done for the amphitheater location on the east side,” George said.
Dane next asked how many people the DDA was planning on seating at the location, and what plan was in place for parking. DDA Director Cameron Mains said the number was “around 500,” because the amphitheater would utilize green space for lawn chair and blanket style seating rather than permanent seating. “We also even talked about people parking in the east parking lot and viewing a concert or listening to it from there,” Mains said. “We even have some new back patio seating space behind Landmark TapHouse and Grille where you’d be able to do it from there. So it’s kind of what we make it, in terms of seating.”
George said there would be multiple options for parking on the east side, suggesting closing Joshua Drive, which would increase the size of the festival area and assist with traffic flow. He also mentioned the parking options downtown, saying it’s a short trip from the west side of downtown. “If you park in the east side parking lot and you walk to any business on the side of the street that Lowry’s Bookstore is on, that is a closer walk than the closest parking spot at Meijer to the milk,” he said. When Dane told him she still couldn’t see how there would be enough parking spaces for 500 people, George reminded her that, while he understood her concern, HarmonyFest brings in over 700 people to the downtown area every year and people find parking.
Commissioner Chris Abel said what concerned him was the fact the DDA receives tax revenue from taxes paid by businesses on North Main, South Main, and West Michigan Avenue, yet he feels the DDA only works to develop downtown Main Street. “Everything that we do seems to be about the downtown district, that one block,” Abel said. “If I was an owner of Burger King or the South Main Shell I would be a little salty, because they’re paying all this money and nothing ever happens their way. I would just encourage you to start looking at the rest of the city. Not just one block in the center.” George said he agreed wholeheartedly, and the DDA was “extensively addressing this gap right now.”
Mayor Tom Lowry closed the discussion portion of the meeting by saying he supported the project, calling it an “attractive addition” to the downtown area. “I know it gets very expensive, but I would just encourage the DDA to have some permanent seating,” he said. “I think it would be nice for senior citizens and handicapped.” Lowry added how competitive the CDBG grant process is, that the application pool is very large, and there’s a chance the city won’t even receive the grant as a result. “We can’t count our chickens before they hatch,” Lowry said.
Beca Welty is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice.
