White River State Park eyes permanent concert venue

A permanent concert venue at White River State Park could significantly increase options for music fans and raise the stakes in the battle for outdoor concert supremacy.

The White River State Park Development Commission voted this week to explore $10 million in construction improvements to the Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park — an open-air venue that's hosted concerts since 2004. The upgrade coincides with a proposal for a competing amphitheater at the nearby site of the shuttered General Motors Stamping Plant.

Live Nation, the concert promotion company pledging to invest the $10 million in the Lawn, also owns and operates Noblesville's Klipsch Music Center. Live Nation has scheduled concerts at the Lawn for a decade.

If RACER Trust, the entity that controls the GM site, greenlights a concert venue from four plans under consideration, the 24,000-capacity Klipsch and an amphitheater on the 102-acre GM site would become natural rivals for scheduling the biggest outdoor concerts in Central Indiana. And the Lawn upgrade could be Live Nation's wild card.

A new-look Lawn would expand from an audience capacity of 7,400 music fans to a range of 8,000 to 12,000, with much of its seating permanent and covered by a "shed" roof in the style of Klipsch Music Center.

Live Nation senior vice president Tom Mendenhall made his company's pitch for Lawn construction during a public commission meeting on Wednesday. White River State Park executive director Bob Whitt characterized the presentation as being "pretty bold. They are fully willing to be involved in every way."

During its early seasons, the Lawn featured a stage that was built and dismantled for every show. Since 2007, the venue's stage has been built each spring and then taken down in the fall. Proposed construction at the Lawn, 801 W. Washington St., would add a permanent stage.

Whitt said all 10 members of the commission voted to pursue Live Nation's plans. Details to be worked out, he said, include financial arrangements and the approval of architectural designs.

"We don't expect $10 million would cover the entire cost," said Whitt, adding that the commission has the authority to issue revenue bonds to finance projects.

The park commission, which bills itself as a "quasi-governmental agency," and Live Nation, a corporation that presents more than 20,000 events globally each year, maintain a public-private partnership.

Regarding a timetable, Whitt speculated that a 2016 opening would be realistic — with concerts presented in the current setting in 2014 and 2015. Two Lawn concerts, Jack Johnson on June 1 and Arctic Monkeys on June 24, have been announced for this summer.

Whitt said he expects the 2014 schedule to reach 15 shows, with an increase to 20 shows if the proposed construction happens.

Whitt has expressed his opposition to a new concert venue at the GM Stamping Plant site at 340 S. White River Parkway West Drive — less than 1 mile from the Lawn.

"We think we have the best site in Downtown," Whitt said of the Lawn. "We're interested in making the very most of it."

Carmel-based REI Investments submitted the proposal for the GM site amphitheater. On Friday, Indianapolis' deputy mayor for economic development Deron Kintner said RACER Trust continues to review that idea and others.

Attempts to reach a representative of REI Investments and Live Nation executive Mendenhall were unsuccessful.

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.