Arts Quincy director asking for public input on proposed riverfront amphitheater

QUINCY — Laura Sievert Hesseltine, executive director at Arts Quincy, has all kinds of ideas for what could be included in a proposed amphitheater on the Quincy riverfront.

Now she’s requesting public input on what they want to see.

Arts Quincy is asking for residents to complete a survey about the amphitheater project. Go to https://tinyurl.com/ArtsQuincySurvey to participate. The deadline to complete the survey is March 17.

“The first question is probably the most relevant: How do you feel about the general idea?” Sievert Hesseltine said. “Because it’s been in every strategic plan. It’s in the master (Quincy) Park District plan. It’s in the master riverfront plan. The decision-makers clearly believe it is an economic driver of many communities. But how is the general vibe in Quincy about the idea? 

“I think we’re going to see a lot of excitement because we’ve had some real success. That (Gem City) concert series that’s been going down at Lincoln Park has had amazing attendance. It surprised even some of us in the arts and entertainment space. There’s going to be a lot more appetite for it than not, but it’s good to ask the question: Are you feeling excited? Or are you feeling like, no way, Jose, we could never do it? We want to hear what people think.”

The survey also asks questions about what kind of amenities would be popular at an amphitheater, how important parking and bathrooms are, the types of seating preferred, distances people travel for entertainment, how often they travel for entertainment and how much they typically spend on entertainment. 

“One of my favorite concepts that we’ve been kicking around in this phase has been an inner bowl that has smaller seating than the outer bowl of the facility,” Sievert Hesseltine said. “If we put the Park Band on the stage, and there’s 200 people in the audience, I don’t want it to feel like an empty place. We’re really talking about the flexibility of the stage.

“If you could make wave a magic wand, what would you see? This is a good time to dream.”

Klingner and Associates was awarded the contract to implement a $50,000 capital planning grant. It has plans to undertake comprehensive site reviews and stakeholder engagement sessions to plan a facility proposal. 

Sievert Hesseltine said the purpose of the capital planning grant is to create a shovel-ready, fully-researched project once grant money becomes available.

“We’ll know what we want, we’ll know how big it is and we’ll know what the community is asking for,” she said. “We can go straight to these funders and say, ‘Here’s a project worth funding.’ The reason we got $1.5 million (from the Illinois Arts Council) for the History Museum (on the Square) and not some other project is because at the time when that opportunity presented itself, (the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County) had drawings and phases and plans that I could present and say, ‘Here’s a project.’ So many times, just having that stuff ready to go is step one to getting the large capital grants.”

Sievert Hesseltine says it’s too early to say how much money will be needed and the location of the proposed amphitheater. She hopes the answers to those questions will be determined by the survey results.

“I think we’re going to end up with a range (of cost),” she said. “If we want a 2,000-seat auditorium with permanent bathrooms, it’s going to be this much. If we want 4,000 seats, it’s going to be this much. We have to know what’s possible. Maybe we can make a bandstand that costs $100,000, or we could make a $15 million super awesome facility.

“The Park District has already identified Lincoln Park on its master plan. The Riverfront Development Corporation has identified the Clat Adams area as an event space. In my ideal world, we have both — a small facility at one (site) and a bigger facility at the other. Plus there’s always somebody who’s going to say, ‘We should put it at Upper Moorman Park.’ The purpose of this is to ask questions and learn the benefits of each location. We’ve got to figure out where and what the right size is for us.”

Sievert Hesseltine is confident that an amphitheater of any size on the riverfront will be a money-maker for the city. She pointed to:

• The River Music Experience in Davenport, Iowa, which opened in 2004 and contributes more than $12 million annually to the local economy.
• Riverside Park in LaCrosse, Wis., has a bandshell that was renovated in 2019 and draws more than 150,000 visitors annually.
• RiverEdge Park in Aurora, which is undergoing $1.4 million in stage renovations, has created more than 200 jobs and spurred $40 million in downtown development.
• The Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Tenn., which opened in 2015, helped double revenue for nearby restaurants.
• The Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater in Decatur, built six years ago, had more than 90,000 people attend concerts in 2024.

“It is 100 percent an economic question for us. Is it going to make Quincy money?” Sievert Hesseltine said. “I’ve not seen any facilities losing money when they’ve invested in ones like these. Hospitality loves it. Restaurants love it. Small businesses love it.

“Because this is coming from your arts council, I am going to put symphonies on the stage at some point, but that is not the only goal and is not its primary purpose. If we got something like this for the city, it will have arts events, it will have rock and roll and country and all of the things that people love. It will have Fourth of July celebrations, it will have Bridge the Gap and Fishing for Freedom. I imagine it as a community hub. 

“We may as well do it right.”

Survey participants who provide their name and email (optional) will be entered into a drawing for a year-long Arts Quincy family membership and a $250 Quincy Chamber of Commerce “Chamber Bucks” gift card.

Contact Sievert Hesseltine at director@artsquincy.org or 217-222-3432 for more information.