Alton council OKs $450,000 contract for design of riverfront amphitheater
By Terry Hillig
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/19/2005
Project will cost
about $6 million
Alton officials are finally moving toward construction of a $6 million amphitheater on the city's downtown riverfront.
The amphitheater, part of a riverfront redevelopment plan that was adopted in 1991, will seat 4,000 to 5,000 people. The project will include a parking area, a promenade and a fountain that could be converted to an ice rink during winter months.
The City Council last week approved a $450,000 contract with Parson Water and Infrastructure Inc. for design of the project. Phil Roggio, the city's director of development and housing, said the design work is expected to take six to nine months.
Mayor Don Sandidge said he anticipates that the amphitheater will be completed before the end of 2006.
The project will be entirely funded by the city, with money derived from several sources, including a city hotel-motel tax, a head tax at the Argosy Casino and a $500,000 bond forfeited by Argosy Gaming Co. when it chose not to build a riverfront hotel.
Roggio said the project will require no money from the city's general fund and no added taxes.
He said city officials are proceeding now because the Army Corps of Engineers recently approved preliminary design for the remaining redevelopment.
Other remaining aspects of the redevelopment project are expected to cost about $10 million, and the Corps is expected to pay $5 million to $6 million of that sum. The city will pay the rest. Besides the amphitheater, the work includes a riverboat landing, pedestrian plaza, lighting, landscaping, a promenade, parking, street realignments and picnic and playground areas.
Redevelopment projects already completed include the city's marina, streets, sidewalks, parking and extensive landscaping. About $15 million already has been spent on the project.
The riverfront redevelopment project was made possible in part by the Corps' demolition of the old Locks and Dam 26 on the Mississippi River and construction of a new dam downstream.
Roggio said the amphitheater will be a likely location for community events such as Independence Day functions and the Alton Expo and for band and orchestra concerts.
He said the amphitheater may also foster special events that are not now being undertaken.
"We believe an amphitheater opens up avenues that currently don't exist on the riverfront," Roggio said.
City officials also plan to explore other entertainment options that could bring touring performers to the riverfront. Roggio said city officials will confer with organizations that provided advice when the city earlier considered building a much larger amphitheater on the riverfront. Lack of adequate parking and other potential problems killed that idea after only brief consideration.
Brett Stawar, president of the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the amphitheater should bring more local people downtown and lure visitors from other communities, all of which will help support downtown businesses as well as those throughout the Alton area.
"We hope it will be an attraction that will complement the many things the city already has in place," he said.
Reporter Terry Hillig
E-mail: thillig@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-659-3638
By Terry Hillig
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/19/2005
Project will cost
about $6 million
Alton officials are finally moving toward construction of a $6 million amphitheater on the city's downtown riverfront.
The amphitheater, part of a riverfront redevelopment plan that was adopted in 1991, will seat 4,000 to 5,000 people. The project will include a parking area, a promenade and a fountain that could be converted to an ice rink during winter months.
The City Council last week approved a $450,000 contract with Parson Water and Infrastructure Inc. for design of the project. Phil Roggio, the city's director of development and housing, said the design work is expected to take six to nine months.
Mayor Don Sandidge said he anticipates that the amphitheater will be completed before the end of 2006.
The project will be entirely funded by the city, with money derived from several sources, including a city hotel-motel tax, a head tax at the Argosy Casino and a $500,000 bond forfeited by Argosy Gaming Co. when it chose not to build a riverfront hotel.
Roggio said the project will require no money from the city's general fund and no added taxes.
He said city officials are proceeding now because the Army Corps of Engineers recently approved preliminary design for the remaining redevelopment.
Other remaining aspects of the redevelopment project are expected to cost about $10 million, and the Corps is expected to pay $5 million to $6 million of that sum. The city will pay the rest. Besides the amphitheater, the work includes a riverboat landing, pedestrian plaza, lighting, landscaping, a promenade, parking, street realignments and picnic and playground areas.
Redevelopment projects already completed include the city's marina, streets, sidewalks, parking and extensive landscaping. About $15 million already has been spent on the project.
The riverfront redevelopment project was made possible in part by the Corps' demolition of the old Locks and Dam 26 on the Mississippi River and construction of a new dam downstream.
Roggio said the amphitheater will be a likely location for community events such as Independence Day functions and the Alton Expo and for band and orchestra concerts.
He said the amphitheater may also foster special events that are not now being undertaken.
"We believe an amphitheater opens up avenues that currently don't exist on the riverfront," Roggio said.
City officials also plan to explore other entertainment options that could bring touring performers to the riverfront. Roggio said city officials will confer with organizations that provided advice when the city earlier considered building a much larger amphitheater on the riverfront. Lack of adequate parking and other potential problems killed that idea after only brief consideration.
Brett Stawar, president of the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the amphitheater should bring more local people downtown and lure visitors from other communities, all of which will help support downtown businesses as well as those throughout the Alton area.
"We hope it will be an attraction that will complement the many things the city already has in place," he said.
Reporter Terry Hillig
E-mail: thillig@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-659-3638
