LEWISTON — A mid-July country music concert that could draw as many as 14,000 spectators could be aimed at downtown Lewiston.
Phil Nadeau, Lewiston’s deputy city administrator, said he would brief councilors Tuesday night on a proposal to open the Franklin Pasture, Lewiston High School’s athletic complex, for the show.
It’s no sure thing, he said. Both the city and promoter have a lot of work to do before it can happen.
For example, there is no named act associated with the show, Nadeau said.
“He can’t negotiate with a band until he knows he has a facility,” Nadeau said. “Depending on the capacity of the site, that’s going to affect which acts can say ‘yes’ and which ones will say ‘no.'”
Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Concert promoter Mike Shea approached the city about using Simard-Payne Memorial Park for a show that would draw in between 7,500 and 14,000 spectators.
“As great as Simard-Payne park is, it’s limited by the number of exits it has,” Nadeau said. The park is bounded by the Androscoggin River on one side and canals on the others.
“Franklin Pasture is just surrounded by chain link fence and that can be removed and reassembled,” he said. “You can create as many exits as you need.”
Nadeau said there are more questions about the plan then answers. The concert would likely fill parking lots around Lewiston High School, at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee and along East Avenue and Bartlett Street. The concert promoter needs to negotiate parking in private lots like the Colisee with their owners, he said.
“And of course, we need to get (School Superintendent) Bill Webster involved,” Nadeau said. “It’s a combination of city and school property, so even though school property is not directly involved it will need to use school property for parking and support. One way or another, the schools have to be involved.”
Shea is the concert promoter behind August 2009’s Heroes of Woodstock concert at Livermore’s Barnyard All Terrain park.
That show brought in about 8,000 people to the park. It was initially expected to draw up to 20,000 spectators.
John Story, owner of L/A Harley, was major sponsor of the Livermore concert and plans to be a big part of the Lewiston show.
“This would be right in middle of the city, so I think you can bring in a lot more people then could have come to Livermore,” Story said.
Story said the current plans for the show call for having a handful of local acts opening for a national headliner country act.
“I just want to be a part of bringing something to the city that has never happened before,” Story said. “It would just be a day concert with some music in here, trying to get us a top act, a country singer.”
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