Concert turns music spotlight on I-4, C-2

Close to 1,000 people turned out Sunday for the inaugural benefit "Celebrate Gloucester" concert, paying anywhere from $15 to $95 to take in the one-day festival on the city's newly-acquired I-4, C-2 site on the waterfront.

And the event's success has convinced at least one event organizer that the city needs, and could sustain, some type of year-round musical venue — with the harborfront lot perhaps looming as a prime location for such a facility.

The concert — a benefit for local community groups and celebration of the city's new property of Rogers Street — spurred many in the audience, including Mayor Carolyn Kirk, to dance in the aisles to the music of Roomful of Blues, Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Charles Neville and New Orleans jazzmen Stanton Davis and Henri Smith, who is now a resident of Gloucester.

Kirk reiterated Monday that the event — which also featured locally-based and touring artists Inge Berge, the band KBMG, and Allen Estes, who was joined on stage for part of his set by Fly Amero — drew the largest and happiest crowd the long-vacant Rogers Street property has seen in more than 45 years.

"You can't help dancing to that music," Kirk said Monday. "The musical lineup was incredible, the venue was amazing, and the weather was superb."

The seven-hour event followed the final races of the annual Schooner Festival, and both went off without a hitch after concerns late last week over the approaching Hurricane Earl, which left virtually no imprint on Gloucester save for cancellation of the lighted boat parade and planned Saturday fireworks.

Concert organizer Peter Van Ness estimated a crowd of nearly 1,000, and though the site could've fit more, attendance was proximate to what he had expected.

Van Ness said the net proceeds of the concert were not known Monday afternoon because the total cost of the event is yet to be determined. Tickets were priced at $15 in advance and $20 at the gate, with special VIP packages, which included free food, parking and stage-front seating, priced at $95.

However, Van Ness urged people to visit www.celebrategloucester.com and vote for the local group they'd like to see money from the concert awarded to. Voting is open through Sept. 30 and the top three vote-getters will split the proceeds evenly. Winners will be announced Oct. 1, he said.

Development site

Kirk, who sprang for I-4,C-2, with the idea of eventually returning it to a productive, tax-bearing state, is expected to roll out a plan for soliciting formal development proposals for the lot later this week.

While she would not go into details Monday, the process by which the city will undertake ideas will include both citizen and business components.

"(The process) will hopefully draw out the best ideas and best talent from among our citizens," she said, adding, "it will be a very engaging and exciting."

Van Ness, however, said Monday he will likely advocate for a musical performance venue at the I-4, C-2 lot, though he is open to other possible locations as well.

"What we've seen here is music really brings people together; whether or not an entertainment venue goes on I-4, C-2," Van Ness said. "I think we need something that can hold a crowd this size or larger here in Gloucester. Music in and of itself can be an economic engine; there's a tremendous pool of talent in this town, but it doesn't benefit us if we don't have a large venue."

City 'needs' venue

Admittedly not a developer, Van Ness said the I-4, C-2 lot may prove to be a bad fit for such a venue, but added such discussions are what the idea phase is all about.

"I don't feel qualified to say this idea is better than (another) idea for the property," he said, "but we don't have something like this in Gloucester — and we should."

One of the city's goals since re-opening the site was to familiarize as many people as possible with the property by offering it for use in a variety of ways, including as overflow parking for Fiesta, to host the farmer's market, and as a concert venue.

The first serious proposal floated for the I-4, C-2 since the city seized the parcel for $1.5 million earlier this year came from Ward 1 City Councilor Paul McGeary, who envisioned a waterfront marine aquarium and research center.

Competing proposals

While he may be the first one in line with an idea for I-4, C-2, McGeary is certain to face competition and proposals that could be less expensive to build or bring greater direct financial returns.

There are legal hurdles to an aquarium, and many other possible uses for the site as it sits within Gloucester's state-regulated Designated Port Area, which is designed to preserve marine industrial harbor infrastructure.

As a result, McGeary's I-4,C-2 aquarium only covers half of the property in order to take advantage of the new state-sanctioned provision in the Gloucester Harbor Plan allowing up to 50 percent of DPA parcels to be filled by "supporting uses."

Supporting uses, which cannot be residential, must contribute economically to the maintenance of marine industrial infrastructure and the water-dependent use or make some form of contribution toward them.

Kirk said the site could be used to house a temporary structure, defined as up to 10 years, as there is "greater leeway" under that definition.

But, she added, the city current Harbor Plan potentially doubles the commercial use for the site and that it's only right to see how far the plan takes the city before seeking relief from DPA restrictions.

Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at 978-283-7000 x 3451 or jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.

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