The Sen. Terry Brown Amphitheater has sat idle on the west bank of the Tombigbee River near downtown Columbus for nearly five years.
A growing group of citizens is now working with the city to make something happen there, officials said.
At Thursday’s city council work session, public information officer Joe Dillon presented a tentative plan for a three-day event in “late summer or early fall” to open the amphitheater. It would include concerts on Friday and Saturday evening and conclude with an event led by local churches on Sunday.
All events would be “affordable and family friendly,” Dillon said, with tickets available for individual days or the whole weekend.
Mayor Keith Gaskin told The Dispatch on Friday the idea spawned from city officials meeting with a group of interested citizens seeking to start making good on the city’s investment in building the amphitheater. He said the inaugural event would likely be scheduled for October.
“Nothing is etched in stone, but dates in October are what have been discussed,” Gaskin said. “People ask me about the amphitheater all the time. There’s been a consistent drum beat from the public for us to do something out there. … I’m encouraged that citizens are reaching out to us wanting to help.”
Amphitheater still incomplete
The city completed the initial phases of the amphitheater, which includes the 42-by-56-foot stage, between 2017 and 2019, using $3.2 million it received from the legislature’s bond program.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford said the stage is fully equipped for lighting and sound with two Americans with Disabilities Act accessible bathrooms built behind it.
“You can have a full-fledged show on that stage,” he said. “It’s better-equipped than any stage in town.”
The property also has water and sewer infrastructure, a dumpster pad and fencing on the east side along the river bank, Stafford said.
What it doesn’t have are the additional restrooms, permanent concession stands, the ticketing area, hardback seating in the lower bowl and the remaining fencing needed to enclose the whole area, all of which are included in the project’s planned, but heretofore unfunded, final phase.
The city had originally hoped to receive enough annual bond money over time to complete the project by 2018, but that money dried up. In 2019, the city advertised for bids on the final phase, then estimated at about $2.5 million, but again the work wasn’t funded.
Now, Stafford said, fully completing the amphitheater project would run up closer to a $4 million tab — which includes increased material costs for the original work and city plans to develop parking on adjacent property to the site. The city requested that amount from the legislature in this year’s session but did not receive it.
Still, the amphitheater property as it sits can accommodate concerts with open grass seating, as well as things like food trucks and portable bathroom facilities, Stafford said. There are options for the latter, he noted, that can even connect to the sewer on the property.
“The property is at a point where we can have a dedication type event for it,” Gaskin said. “Think of all the missed revenue while the amphitheater has just sat there. It’s unfortunate that the (process of building the amphitheater) has been controversial.”
A ‘good first impression’
Once it opens, Gaskin said, the amphitheater will be under the purview of Trotter Convention Center.
The first event, as several officials noted, will give the city a more tangible idea for operating expenses and thus help it determine what to charge for future events.
Gaskin said the long-term plan, if final work on the project is ever accomplished, is to outsource event management to a third-party promoter.
While no concrete plan has materialized for securing the remaining $4 million to finish the amphitheater, City Attorney Jeff Turnage told the council Thursday state law allows the city to sell naming rights and corporate sponsorships for the facility.
Speaking to The Dispatch on Friday, Turnage said that idea wasn’t a panacea by any means.
“I don’t think we’d get a corporate sponsor to give $4 million or $5 million,” he said. “Whatever we could get would be better than what we have now.”
Gaskin believes the amphitheater will one day be the tourism and quality-of-life boon it was originally intended.
“Over time, people will enjoy the amphitheater, and it will be an asset to the community,” he said.
In addition to Dillon, Stafford, Gaskin and Trotter director Rogena Bonner are among the city officials serving on the ad hoc planning group.
Stafford emphasized how critical it is for the first event held there to be successful.
“You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression,” Stafford said. “I hope whatever is being done is taken seriously so we can make that good first impression.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
