‘We need an economic boom’
Bridgeport pins hopes on amphitheater
BRIDGEPORT — While Connecticut’s largest city grapples with an alarming rise in coronavirus cases, one hopeful sign of Bridgeport’s — and Connecticut’s — post-pandemic future continues rising just off Interstate 95.
Over the next few months, the roof for developer Howard Saffan’s openair concert amphitheater near the harbor will be completed, with the steel frame going up now and what he has touted as the project’s most distinctive feature — a massive, tentstyle fabric covering manufactured in France and Mexico — being installed in “the first quarter of 2021.”
“Think of it as a pie,” Saffan said of the fabric. “You cut a pie in eighths. It’s very similar. It all goes in in sections. The sections get ‘craned up’ and then they install it and, at the appropriate time, they’ll stretch it.”
But with COVID-19 raging across the United States and Connecticut’s infection rates climbing, the big question is when and how many of the new venue’s 6,000 seats will eventually be filled, and what, exactly, will those customers be coming out to see?
“We’re on schedule for (local school) graduations in May,” Saffan said this week. As for music concerts, Saffan said the current plan is to host two or three in June, including Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“It’s the governor’s favorite band,” Saffan went out of his way to add, referring to Gov. Ned Lamont’s widely known musical tastes.
The future of local live entertainment next year will be in great part likely dependent upon Lamont, who since the global pandemic struck Connecticut in midMarch has issued a variety of executive orders aimed at stopping the spread, including limits on capacities in stores, restaurants and entertainment destinations.
“If we were (operating) in today’s world, we would be a fraction of what the venue can hold,” Saffan said.
There are reasons for Saffan to believe that, having this year’s grand opening thwarted by the pandemic, the show will go on in 2021. First, he has the benefit of building an outdoor concert destination at a time when health experts have targeted inside activities as the greatest risk for spreading coronavirus.
“And we’re optimistic there will be enough safety procedures established and multiple vaccines out there that we can enjoy a summer of fun at the amphitheater,” Saffan said, referring specifically to this month’s news of Pfizer’s apparently successful efforts to develop a vaccine.
Still, he acknowledged the unknowns. Will music lovers feel comfortable enough to go out? And will talent begin touring? And even if musical acts are ready to again be on the road, will there be enough destinations open for it to be worth their while?
A recent state of the industry survey by concert trade publication Pollstar conducted between Aug. 23 and Sept. 7 found the largest number of respondents did not think live music would be “back at full capacity” until 2022, with 24.76 of them aiming for the third quarter of 2021 and just 16.26 for next spring/early summer.
Asked their biggest concerns about the future of live entertainment, 66.57 percent of respondents said shows will be “cost prohibitive” with 45.62 percent citing “ticket affordability;” 62.98 percent cited fear of large gatherings, 44.2 percent “stadium shows and large gatherings” and 42.03 percent “large indoor shows.”
Saffan said even though concert performers can be at a safe distance from the public, artists will understandably still need to be extremely cautious: “Remember, when the artist goes on that stage it involves, conservatively, 50 to 100 people. There are roadies, riggers, operations staff. So the talent is certainly in contact with an awful lot of people.”
But Saffan said in his estimation, performers are preparing to return to the stage next year.
“(Concert promoter) Live Nation has a tremendous amount of ‘holds’ in our schedule already. What a hold is, you hold a date for the artist, subject to safety measures,” Saffan said, adding, “We are at the mercy of science. We only have so much control. (So we) keep our heads down, work hard.”
Whatever next year brings, Saffan said the amphitheater building is “coming out magnificently.”
The venue’s bones are actually the minor-league baseball stadium shuttered in 2017 that for 20 years was home to the Bridgeport Bluefish. When the team’s contract with the city was up, Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration sought competing proposals for the space and selected Saffan’s.
Saffan’s initial goal was to open in 2019, but construction delays pushed that back until this year. As of late last winter, Saffan was announcing his first 2020 concerts.
Then the global pandemic hit, canceling live events, impacting the national and international supply line for building materials and leading to major changes in health and safety protocols to keep workers on the site separated.
“The electricians can’t work where the plumbers work or the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) crew works,” Saffan said. “We have to be very, very careful about overlapping with regard to personnel. We’re very blessed we have not had one issue at the job site, but that’s because we have slowed down the construction and socially-distanced all of our subcontractors.”
Saffan said the additional delays did provide an opportunity to redesign the concert stage: “We pulled the stage forward by 15 feet and created 45 degree angles on the side, creating a more intimate atmosphere for concert goers.”
Instead of spending the spring preparing for a grand opening, Saffan for several weeks in March and April was himself the focus of an intense debate among members of the Bridgeport City Council after the developer sought an additional $4.5 million in municipal investment.
The Ganim administration had committed $7.5 million to the amphitheater project with the developer agreeing to foot $7.5 million and any cost overruns. But Saffan in the spring claimed that when he took over the aged ballpark from the Bluefish and started renovating the building, it was in worse shape than the Ganim administration had represented to him. The council eventually voted in favor of the $4.5 million after some rancorous meetings and some verbal sparring between Saffan and his critics.
Asked for this story if he was going to pursue any additional money from Bridgeport, Saffan said, “No.”
“As a business person, we made a deal with the city and will honor the deal with the city,” he said. “Financially, the pandemic has hurt all of us. We’re not unique to that. We absorbed the financial losses and understand this will be an amazing venue for the city and look forward to opening our doors as early as humanly possible, in a safe environment.”
Bridgeport City Council President Aidee Nieves, who had lobbied her colleagues to support Saffan’s $4.5 million request, said this week that the amphitheater in some fashion needs to open up next year for the sake of Bridgeport’s economy.
“We need an economic boom in our community,” Nieves said, citing in particular how downtown restaurants and other small businesses have been struggling during the pandemic. “Everything’s kind of tied into that development right now. And being it’s outdoor, I think its viability is strong.”
Lauren Coakley Vincent, head of the Downtown Special Services District which promotes that neighborhood, noted how many dining establishments have profited from the traffic that the indoor entertainment arena near the amphitheater has brought to Bridgeport.
“It creates a strong base of customers on a very predictable schedule with concerts booked months and months in advance,” Vincent said.