Music seen as headliner for SF parks-budget relief
By: Katie Worth
Examiner Staff Writer
June 22, 2009
 |
| Putting out feelers: The parks department already has a list of qualified concert promoters that it plans to contact to gauge interest in holding shows at parks. (Examiner file photo) |
SAN FRANCISCO — When it comes to renting out city parks as concert venues, Golden Gate Park could just be the first act.
After negotiating a three-year, $2.85 million contract to rent out a portion of The City’s most famous park for the three-day Outside Lands music festival, the Recreation and Park Department is now considering other properties for concerts.
Possible venues could be McLaren Park, Dolores Park, Ferry Plaza and Stern Grove, which until now has primarily been used for free concerts. At a Recreation and Park Commission meeting Thursday, chairman Jim Lazarus requested that department staff put together a venue “package” that event promoters could bid on. That package would allow the winning bidder to host a series of concerts at several of San Francisco’s parks and the underutilized Candlestick Park in 2010, according to Lazarus.
“Obviously there’d need to be some work with community groups and partners to identify appropriate locations for additional concerts, but I think smaller concerts over the course of a summer and fall could work,” he said. “With the success of Outside Lands concerts in Golden Gate Park, there may be other locations in the park system where we could have smaller neighborhood-based concerts that would add to the revenue stream.”
Such additions to the revenue stream are much needed by the department, which had to eliminate 80 positions this year in order to close its budget gap, according to officials.
Department spokeswoman Lisa Seitz Gruwell said officials already have a list of qualified promoters that was compiled earlier this year when it bid out the Golden Gate Park festival. The department will contact each of those promoters to see if they have ideas for additional venues and dates, she said.
The department sees the idea as a win-win for city parks and residents, Seitz Gruwell said. While Outside Lands received a share of complaints about noise and traffic, it was very well received last year, the first time the festival was held, she said.
“We are looking for opportunities that give San Franciscans both a recreational benefit such as music and also help us raise money to cover the cost of our programs,” Seitz Gruwell said.
kworth@sfexaminer.com
