A way forward on the Sen. Terry Brown Amphitheater at the Island is no clearer after the latest rounds of bids came back.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford presented those bids during a city council works session Thursday at City Hall, bringing with him “good news and bad news.”
The good: Bids came back only about 20% higher than 2016. Stafford expected closer to a 30-to-35% inflation bump.
The bad: Only two companies submitted bids.
Weathers Construction, at $3.5 million, was the sole bidder to include plans to complete the whole site. Stafford said the advertised bid package also broke out five contracts for pieces of the work: entry, restroom, concession; civil site; seating; electrical; and fence and gate.
Hannon LLC bid $606,674 for the civil site contract, which includes finishing the paving, steps, concrete, sidewalks, landscaping and irrigation. No one bid on the other piecemeal contracts.
If the city decides to rebid, Stafford said, he knows of at least one other contractor who would probably submit one, but he noted there is no guarantee Weathers or Hannon would bid again.
“I think the bids are good. I think it gives y’all some knowledge of where the bids are going to be,” Stafford said. “The biggest thing is planting the seed of confidence that the money is going to be there.”
Since 2017, the city has used $3.2 million in state legislative appropriations for the initial phases of the amphitheater, including the stage, but the site still hasn’t hosted an event. In 2024, the legislature gave the city another $1 million, enough to progress the work but less than a third of what it needs to complete the site.
That spooked potential bidders, Stafford told the council Thursday, as some said they “read in the paper” the city couldn’t honor a comprehensive bid.
“Why am I going to waste my time putting together a bid that’s beyond $1 million if y’all don’t have the money in hand?” Stafford noted one contractor asking him.
As for the dearth of bids on the piecemeal contracts, Stafford said many didn’t want the headache of sharing a worksite with as many as four other outfits with no general contractor to coordinate the work.
Even taking a piecemeal bid like Hannon’s means the city could use the amphitheater as an open facility, Stafford said. But to hire a company to manage events there, it would need to be a finished, secure site.
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, a proponent of finishing the amphitheater before hosting events there, asked Chief Financial Officer Jim Brigham if the city had the additional $2.5 million needed to finish the amphitheater.
“If we use the reserve fund, we do,” Brigham answered, referring to the city’s $5 million capital improvement fund it established in September when approving its Fiscal Year 2025 budget.
“So just to let the people know who may want to bid it, we do have the money that we can finish it,” Jones said. “… The paper may want to print that this time so we can get more bidders.”
Mayor Keith Gaskin cautioned against using reserves for this project.
“The purpose of the capital fund is not for finishing out an amphitheater,” he said. “It took us a long time to get where we are with the capital fund. We also have some other major expenses, roof repairs and such.”
Jones then asked Brigham about debt that may roll off soon, allowing the city to borrow what is needed to finish the amphitheater. Brigham said the city is due to retire some of its more than $28 million in debt soon, but it won’t be enough to cover the remaining amphitheater costs.
Greene: ‘Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the show’
Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene did not attend the work session, but speaking to The Dispatch on Thursday he would rather approve the Hannon bid and start letting people use the amphitheater once the work is done.
“Spend the million, concrete the bottom, landscape and irrigate, additional fencing where needed and put the rest in parking lots,” Greene said. “Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the show. If in a few years we see it is doing great and needs improvement, we’ll have that discussion then.”
He adamantly opposes Jones’ suggestions of borrowing or tapping into reserves.
“If we’re going to spend (some of the) $5 million, why don’t you spend it on the debt? How about that?” Greene said. “I’m not saying let’s go do that, but to spend it on an amphitheater that is eight years old and to think we’re ever going to compete with Brandon’s and Tuscaloosa’s, that’s not what this thing is. … They keep bringing up, ‘Oh, we need it to start generating revenue.’ This thing is never going to be a moneymaker. We hope that it floats and it improves the quality of life.”
While Gaskin also opposes Jones’ suggestions, including borrowing, he isn’t as pessimistic as Greene on the amphitheater’s economic prospects.
He wants to find the best use for the $1 million in hand, continue to seek funds to finish the work as they become available and use the amphitheater for community events in the meantime.
“I talk to private investors fairly regularly who would consider helping complete the amphitheater for naming opportunities,” Gaskin told The Dispatch. “… Once we start using it for events, it will also encourage more investment in the Island itself and those areas near it. … I know there is some interest in investment … to try to create some type of entertainment district.”
Still, he believes the city should advertise for another round of bids.
“I don’t think we got enough information from these bids to make a solid decision,” he said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
