About 10 concerts booked and counting for the 6,000-seat boutique amphitheater that has hosted several college graduations. Developer Howard Saffan is working with city planners to ease ticket-holder access.
CT Post reporter Brian Lockhart has more:
He said the two municipal lots outside the amphitheater will be merged into one–they are currently split by a short road the city is planning to abandon, then add entrances and resurface with 1,000 newly-striped spaces.
“The most important improvement of all is making parking free” at both the lots and the 1,500 garage, Saffan said. Much of the prior traffic backup, he said, was because “you would pull up to a singular gate, hand them money, they give you the change, and now you can come in.”
“That transaction takes between a minute and two minutes versus you pull up to four entrance gates and load right in,” Saffan said. “Not charging for parking knocks out about 80 percent of the issues.”
… Saffan also said there will also be improved signage helping guide visitors off both I-95 and the Routes 8/25 Connector and through downtown to the venue. And some downtown streets will temporarily become one-way on event days/nights to send vehicles in a “loop” through the neighborhood rather than having long, criss-crossing lines of cars.
Full story here.
Concert lineup
FRI JUL 30, 2021 6PM EDT
Blackberry Smoke – Spirit Of The South Tour
SAT AUG 7, 2021 6PM EDT
OTF FEST – Lil Durk, Coi Leray & Pooh Shiesty
TUE AUG 17, 2021 7:30PM EDT
Kings of Leon: When You See Yourself Tour
FRI AUG 20, 2021 7:30PM EDT
Brothers Osborne: We’re Not For Everyone Tour
TUE AUG 24, 2021 6:30PM EDT
311 – Live From The Ride Tour
WED AUG 25, 2021 8PM EDT
The Greatest Hits of Foreigner
FRI AUG 27, 2021 7PM EDT
Greta Van Fleet – Strange Horizons 2021
SAT AUG 28, 2021 7PM EDT
Greta Van Fleet – Strange Horizons 2021
SUN AUG 29, 2021 6:30PM EDT
The Beach Boys
SUN SEP 19, 2021 7:30PM EDT
Alice Cooper with special guest Ace Frehley
FRI DEC 31, 2021 12AM EST
2021 Season Tickets
Now you are hawking tickets for the Armpit Theater???
Working on a commission or just a flat fee?
Troll, when did you receive that secret lobotomy without telling us?
I thought it would be evident.
That’s for the recommendation. And the guy was really cheap. Of course it didn’t come with a guarantee. Hmmmmm
Next time I’m gonna try electric shock. I hear that can be fun.
This public reminder is sponsored by Donald Day:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article251783868.html
No charge for parking is up there with, Yes I am wearing a rubber!
Read the article why don’t you?
It seems as if this is two years old and yet has been made public! What up with that!
Or “the mayor’s office declined to comment when asked about the results of the study”.
What recommendations were made and NOT implemented? OT for police dept for traffic control? Use of non-police personnel for traffic control? What has Acting Chief Garcia not done to better control traffic? Change traffic patterns on days of a concert???
That ought to be fun.
Why isn’t Scott Burns or Aidee demanding a complete disclosure or and unredacted be made public and public hearings about the report? $65,000 of taxpayers money, not Ganim’s or Saffin’s money.
Some things never change.
Bob, don’t forget the overtime for the fire watch by the fire department.
WOW! How does free parking for venues at the amphitheater conjured up as a negative, and or, silence?
It was not this way with regards to the parking meters and free parking downtown, or “ghetto parking gate”.
The Troll comes out, and the rest are silent. I always say, ” the Port is like the baby that would be cut in have rather than seeing it thrive”.
This is a positive. It will cut down on traffic congestion, by what is a cheap scheme, and look favorably on upcoming events. IMO
Let me know when Simon and Garfunkel hit the stage. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAEppFUWLfc
This is how it works. Saffin must make so much per show. And here is his cost which must be paid. So he must charge so much a ticket.
He says to Joe in order for my formula to work I cannot pay for police and fire OT. If you want me to pay for OT then I will but I will need to charge $X.XX for parking. One way or another I need to cover the cost.
Now if the shows are successful and parking becomes a problem, someone (Saffin / the city / the Parking Authority / the DSSD) is going to charge for parking and be reimbursed. Plain and simple. You can pay be now or pay be later, but make sure you pay me.
Just a pont of information , DSSD has nothing to do with that side. Areana and Ampitheathre are city assets (or liabilities, depends who you ask)
So DSSD can share conserns but they are governed by actuall developers and get 3 mils of extra property taxes per downtown property in “teardrop only”
Last thing, they city DOES NOT have a parking authority, I wish we did. We have a parking division under the police department which is a joke and had destroyed the concepts of creating a walkable downtown.
The parking situation is 100% the city’s problem. A 2nd structured parking lot with automated system at lets say $6/car would have resolved this problem. Howard can up a ticket price $10 and make out like a fat cat because he is obligated to pay us a flat fee per ticket, not a percentage. He could care less if a ticket is $40 or $150, I’m pretty sure it’s only $3 per tix sold to the city to meet the $150k /yr threshold minimum. Yes he may owe us more if business is good, but the metrics all in his favor.
Bob, i hate to say it but Howard has one in this deal at our expense.
*** Just add a small across the board “parking fee” to the price of admission that will cover security, traffic control, maintenance & clean-up. Do it up front early, because later when the cost comes back to bite you in the derby, you’ll wish you did. ***
Another tax-payer financed, Bridgeport, political venture. How much $ have we committed to this ill-timed political advertisement? How much will we pour into another failing venture year after year until it is decided by a new administration that the “tent” must be folded for fiscal reasons… The old complex was costing about $2 million/year + what the city put up, up front to build it… Now this ridiculous circus tent in a city that is hemorrhaging population and grand list value by the day — as people flee and avoid this gang-controlled municipality supporting a high lifestyle for a parasitic City Hall hierarchy that still manages to find more blood to tap from a nearly-embalmed, tax-base corpse — is foisted upon us… (If only they could be that clever and resourceful in locating real tax-base and jobs to this dead place…)
Happy Bicentennial…
Can we PLEASE stop calling Howard Saffron a Developer!!!
A developer OWNS Land they develop and pay property taxes. Howard is a tenant of the City of Bridgeport and has a lease. It is a tenant/landlord relationship. He will pay ZERO ($$$) in property taxes becauase he does not own the property which is why he is NOT a developer. We will see what the business taxes look like.
The upgrades to the Ampitheathre that he is doing is as a preferred contractor to the city and the taxpayers gracioulsly has given him $12 Million to fund his dream in a “Tenant Allowance” (TA). In Real estate a TA is given by the owner in this case “The City of Bridgeport”
So please stop calling the man a developer. The 2 lots across the street just became a reality because one lot belonged to Park City communities and the city never had “Site Control” to even discuss what is being talked about in the article. So Taxpayer dollars will now be used to pave and stripe these 2 lots which are very “Valuable for RFP” which zoning commission recommended when they shut down the B.S. Billboard Saffron tried to get approved last month with OPED’s help.
The truth is , the 2 lots across the street have always been promised to Howard in a back door deal. Approving the Billboard and tying it to FREE parking would in essesnce make him a “preferred developer” in an attempt to avoid RFP for this property. This deal has been promissed to Howard by Tom G. and approved by administration. This is a sham for dispositon of property and horrible economic development.
How soon we forget that 3 years ago Bridgeport invoked the state statute that would allow it to earn revenue in a surcharge for every vehicle that parks. But for HOWARD, oh nooooo, sweetheart deals abound.
Final thought, I have chaired the Downtown Bridgeport Merchants Association. There have been ZERO conversations with us. There external benefits will be minimal in downtown, no different than when the arena would sellout Uconn woman’s baseketball or any other event. The benefits are all overstated with zero facts.
Add this the BS that 1000 jobs have been created at a Part time ampitheatre that would be open for 60-70 events at best, smh. What flavor Kool Aid do folks want to drink?
BTW, I applaud Howard for fleecing the city of Bridgeport. He is a business man. He asked, we have given him everything. It’s a great relationship for him.
So far,there are 10 events booked for the theater,starting at the end of July,none are sold out yet.And Ron 7 Don,I see a Hip Hop/Rap show planned now also..