NEWS

Concert series eyed for downtown, Boston Store area

Jason Smathers
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The city has announced a downtown summer concert series next year, though the exact location will depend on a planned demolition of the old Boston Store, the prospect of which was complicated last week when bids to level the building came in over what the city had budgeted.

According to a release from the city, Kohler Arts Center and the Business Improvement District, the concert series will start June 25, take place on Thursdays and feature "local and regional performers" for 12 weeks.

The week of July 16, the concert series will take place on the weekend in conjunction with Midsummer Festival of the Arts hosted by the Arts Center. The series is an attempt by the city and its partners to fulfill elements of the city's Harbor Center Master Plan to "leverage Sheboygan's arts, culture and food heritage."

"The summer concert series promises to be the infusion of energy and excitement that downtown Sheboygan needs and the community wants to see," said Amy Horst, Arts Center deputy director for programming, in a statement.

The city is also asking residents to vote online for the city's music series in hopes of attracting a $25,000 matching grant to bring in "national caliber performers." Online voting at amp.levittpavilions.org/voter-registration-page/ will begin Saturday, Nov. 1. The top 20 vote getters will be named finalists, after which Levitt AMP will announce 10 recipients of the grants.

While the concerts will take place on the Arts Center's "M.I.K.E" stage, the cylindrical sculpture outside the Arts Center that transforms into a music stage, it's uncertain whether those concerts will take place on the Arts Center grounds or on the green space that is expected to replace the Boston Store once it's flattened.

If the green space is finished by the time the concert series starts, the series would likely move there, officials say.

The City of Sheboygan purchased the Boston Store in September for $500,000 and mulled over possible options for redevelopment, but decided upon demolition due to the store's size, lack of maintenance to the existing property and high cost of redevelopment.

The city hopes to have the old store demolished by June, but that will depend on when the demolition project starts.

The city solicited bids for the demolition, with the expectation that the lowest bid would come in at around $250,000, which is what the city assumed in its 2015 budget. But City Planning and Development Director Chad Pelishek said the lowest bid presented to the city last week was actually $91,000 more than that estimate.

That means the city will have to appropriate more funds for the demolition or rebid the projects.

Finance Committee Chairman Don Hammond said a committee meeting to address the bids was cancelled this past Monday because the information wasn't available in time, but that the issue will likely be taken up at the next scheduled meeting on Monday, Nov. 10. If the committee does decide to appropriate more funding and move forward, the plan could be finalized as soon as the following Common Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 17.

In addition to the concert series, the city's BID District also plans on bumping up Christmas decorations and providing "increased summer ambience" – such as banners and flowers -- as the seasons change. The release also noted the city is in the "final stages" of a redevelopment plan for the Harbor Center area and a plan to extend New York Avenue from Eighth to Seventh Street.

Reach Jason Smathers at 920-453-5167