WATERFRONT CONCERTS
3-5 YEAR DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL
Improving Infrastructure and Utilization of Compass Park

OVERVIEW
For the past 3 years, Waterfront Concerts has been the festival promoter on record for shows
presented at Compass Park on the Maine State Pier. With Waterfront’s contributions, the city has seen
Compass Park developed from an underutilized and arguably deficient structure, to a vibrant contributor
to both the culture and economy of Portland’s Old Port.
Waterfront Concerts has invested roughly $1.3 Million in venue and infrastructure improvements to
date, and proposes making significantly larger investments in the coming years to construct a vibrant
community asset on Casco Bay.
Per the zoning language under Section 14-300, the primary function of Waterfront Concerts (WFC) at
Compass Park is to support water-dependent industry. WFC is tasked with attracting concertgoers to
local area businesses, ideally deep-water dependent businesses. Secondarily, our goal is to drive
economic activity to pay for pier maintenance.
Following conversations with local government representatives and non-profit organizations, as well as
Portland residents, we feel that we can do even more to achieve this mandate.
We believe that by improving the venue and pier infrastructure, we can create a true community asset
that brings more than a season’s worth of music to the city each year. We believe that through
development and creative partnerships, Waterfront Concerts can help draw traffic to other businesses
in Compass Park, improve the experience for customers at Casco Bay Lines, and provide an outlet for
the goods and services of local area businesses.
The two primary concerns we hear in neighborhood and
council meetings, are that our presence at Compass
Park is not beneficial to people who do not enjoy live
concerts, and that the music generated at our venue is
not confined to the immediate area. We share those
concerns and feel that Waterfront Concerts can mitigate
sound through careful planned development, and
provide increased value to the city in the process.

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 The Objective
• Introduce semi-permanent infrastructure in Compass Park
• Thoughtfully develop the venue to improve the concert experience, while addressing concerns
• Better support businesses operating in the Eastern Waterfront Port Zone
• Generate additional revenue for the maintenance and upkeep of Portland’s working waterfront
• Better utilize existing infrastructure beyond a 20-30 show concert season

Opportunities
• Create a world-class venue that highlights Maine as a music destination
• Support local organizations and neighborhood groups by facilitating events/fundraisers
• Promote small-scale events with existing and proposed infrastructure
• Offer an alternative location for events that occur in City Parks

OUR PROPOSAL
Since 2014, Waterfront Concerts has promoted concerts at Compass Park. Over the past 3 years, we
have generated a significant amount of economic activity and are currently operating within our
mandate. However, despite our growth and success, we feel that there is more we can do to stimulate
the local economy and benefit our community.
Given our track record of safely and successfully promoting events at Compass Park, we would like to
enter into a multi-year partnership with the City of Portland to solidify our presence on the Maine State
Pier.
After 2 full seasons and 3 years of operating, we have finally exhausted the site developments and
improvements that can either be recouped under a single season agreement, or moved should our
lease terminate.
To further develop the venue as both we, and the city
originally envisioned when we began our partnership,
we should consider a longer-term commitment to allow
for the sizable investments necessary to bring this
venue to the next level.
Specifically, we propose three options that would
provide Waterfront Concerts the ability to financially
justify significant additional investment in the venue.

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 Specific Lease Alternatives
• A single ten-year agreement
• A ten-year agreement with (1) ten-year automatic renewal
• A ten-year agreement with (4) ten-year automatic renewals
A single 10-year agreement would provide Waterfront Concerts with the ability to pay for investments
with a proper depreciation and repayment schedule. Currently we can only finance what we can
reasonably expect to be able to pay off, or relocate after a single concert season.
While a 10-year agreement is a significant improvement over a single season permit, extending the
agreement with an option to renew further lengthens the repayment schedule for investments. A
longer-term agreement would allow both Waterfront Concerts and the city to dramatically increase the
ambition and scope of proposed site improvements and venue upgrades.

SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS
Grandstand Systems
One of the specific challenges we strive to overcome are deficiencies in the fan-experience in our
General Admission area. Compass Park is an essentially flat, 80’ wide venue, and both queueing and
sight-lines suffer past our mix-position. We have approached three companies that specialize in
custom grandstand solutions, and have narrowed our focus to two proposals.
Either proposal would enhance the experience of our concertgoers, while opening up the venue for use
in other capacities.
The first option, pictured below, represents a more basic option. This solution allows for vehicle egress
underneath (10’ clearance), seats 1,000 patrons, and provides a location for spotlights on the top level.
It is temporarily anchored to the deck of the pier and would be a significant improvement over the
current venue layout.

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 The second, more elaborate option would incorporate two VIP boxes, add concessions within the
framework of the grandstand system, and seat some 1,400 patrons.
This design is adapted from a previous grandstand system installed at the Laughlin Event Center in
Laughlin, Nevada. (Pictured below).

By expanding the capacity of the venue, significantly improving egress, and enhancing the concert
experience for all attendees, we feel that a proper grandstand solution at the Maine State Pier would
make the venue a premier location, attract concertgoers to Portland from a much greater distance, and
as a result improve revenue for the city while limiting downside for Waterfront Concerts.

Stage Solutions
In addition to improving the concertgoer viewing experience, we plan to install either an improved
modular stage or a permanent stage at the end of the pier.
In moving away from our mobile stage, tours will have the freedom to hang lighting and video packages
in almost any configuration. Currently, our mobile stage is limited to rigging from roughly 15 points on
the roof of the structure, in a very specific way. This freedom to set the stage as envisioned without

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 restriction will allow us to draw stronger talent to the venue and provide a better overall experience for
tours and concertgoers.
Mountain Stages, the manufacturer of Waterfront Concerts’ Bangor stage, has designed a concept
scaled to the Maine State Pier, pictured below. This stage configuration would allow for different
rigging configurations, allow for more efficient loading in and out of the venue, and conform more
naturally to the pier itself.

Looking beyond a Mountain Stage, a permanent stage could be designed that is specific to the pier. A
permanent solution would better factor in aesthetics as well as function.

Comprehensive Solutions
In considering a comprehensive venue solution for the Maine State Pier, one strong contender is a
tensile fabric structure.
A tensile structure would allow us to operate for 3-seasons, and would expand the variety of events that
could be held at the venue. Organizations wishing to host an outdoor event would be able to bring their
event under a roof, and remove many of the weather-related concerns associated with operating in
Maine.
This solution is modeled after the Dayton River Pavilion (Pictured below), adapted to the unique wind
and infrastructure conditions at the Maine State Pier. If adopted, a tensile structure would allow for the
best of both worlds, an outdoor concert experience, with 3-season weather protection. Importantly, this
solution would also help guarantee that sound is contained within the venue and the immediate vicinity.

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 CONCLUSION
Looking at the proposed lease options, we are open to revising and revisiting these terms to bring them
in line with the city’s vision for the space. The one factor that will guide investment is the length of our
agreement. A longer agreement allows for a longer recovery period for investment, therefore a more
significant investment from Waterfront Concert.
As a framework for discussion, we propose 3 options:
1.) A 10-year agreement: Involving modular but significant improvements, easily removable.
2.) A 10-year agreement with a 10-year renewal: Involving comprehensive improvements mirroring
the development at Waterfront’s Bangor venue.
3.) A 10-year agreement with (3) 10-year renewals: Consisting of full venue development, including
a tensile roof, stage house, and fixed grandstand solution.
In addition to the above proposed upgrades, a long-term partnership could yield other benefits. For
example, we resurfaced the existing Compass Park benches in 2016, as a permanent tenant, we could
replace them with improvements.
Structural modifications and improvements would need to be made to the pilings under the pier to
support these projects. We would finance those upgrades.
Where the venue is a city park when we’re not operating, Waterfront Concerts would replace existing
light posts with new upgraded bollards, and repair the wooden decking on the right side of the venue.
As a tenant with a long-term home in Portland, we can do more to substantially benefit the working
waterfront as a neighbor than we can as a seasonal presence on the Pier.
In developing the site into a world-class venue, we can foster and enhance economic activity on
Portland’s waterfront. Together we can benefit local organizations, recent arrivals to our city, and
support charities while gaining insight into how future development impacts existing businesses near
the Maine State Pier.
We look forward to working with the Portland City Council and local Government to make this proposal
a reality. We feel that by partnering beyond a single season Festival Permit, we can justify the
significant financial investment needed for the Maine State Pier to reach its full potential.

Thank you for your consideration,

Jon Dow
Production Manager / Venue Operations – Waterfront Concerts
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