The city of Aurora is looking to purchase two new jumbotrons, large screens typically seen at concert and other event venues, for RiverEdge Park during renovations currently taking place there.
If the Aurora City Council approves, the purchase would bring the number of jumbotrons at the park up to seven once renovations are complete. While the other screens will be near the stage or on the beverage pavilion, city officials have proposed these two new jumbotrons be situated in the grassy area beyond the beverage pavilion so there would be more places for people to sit during concerts.
Like the rest of the renovations taking place at RiverEdge Park, the new jumbotrons are supposed to help make the park more profitable and help it attract bigger acts by increasing potential attendance, officials say. But the proposal has seen some pushback, particularly as the city faces a shortfall in next year’s budget.
The two jumbotrons are expected to cost just over $534,000, according to a staff report about the proposal. Also included in the proposal is roughly $266,000 in construction work both to build the jumbotron-supporting structures and to do some other work on the park’s pavers.
Aurora officials say those costs are within the renovation project’s existing budget, which is being funded through bonds taken out by the city.
The proposal is expected to go before the Aurora City Council for final approval on Tuesday. Last month, the City Council’s Information and Technology Committee unanimously recommended the proposal for approval.
At that committee meeting, Aurora Director of Public Works Jason Bauer said city staff have known the park needs these two additional jumbotrons for a while, and now is the time with the park already closed for renovations.
When asked if this was “mission critical” by Ald. Ted Mesiacos, 3rd Ward, Bauer said it was critical so that people would want to attend concerts in the grassy area beyond the beverage pavilion, as there is no direct line of sight to the stage from there. The Aurora Civic Center Authority has estimated that the area to be served by the jumbotrons would seat around 1,000 people, he said.
The point of the renovations, Bauer said during a presentation at the City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting this week, is to make the venue more marketable to new acts, to improve visitors’ experience at the park and, ultimately, to make it more profitable. Bigger crowds are needed because some performers require minimum audience sizes, his presentation showed.
To achieve those goals, the park is currently being expanded with a new backstage building, a new beverage pavilion, a new restroom building and a new south gate entry, according to Bauer’s presentation.
During public comment periods at recent meetings, a few Aurora residents have spoken against the proposed new jumbotrons.
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Rick Lawrence, a former alderman who frequently speaks during public comment, at the Sept. 23 City Council meeting asked how the city can tell employees there might be layoffs or can raise taxes because of a budget shortfall while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on what he called “a TV.”
He said the park can do without them, and he also disagreed that the park renovations would bring in new acts or revenue.
Aurora Mayor John Laesch noted at the Committee of the Whole meeting this week that funds the city received from bonds it took out in part to pay for this project can only be used for purposes set in the bond issuance, so could not be transferred into the city’s normal operating fund.
Sandi Schmitt, also a regular speaker during public comment, questioned the financial return on investment these jumbotrons would bring. She knows the money is coming from bonds, but it should instead be left in reserves for future unexpected issues, and any left over once the project is complete should be used to pay down the bond, she said during the Committee of the Whole meeting this week.
Ald. Daniel Barreiro, 1st Ward, said it makes sense to go ahead with building the structures needed to support the jumbotrons, and do the other work associated with this proposal, but that the jumbotrons could be purchased later after any other changes to the budget are made.
That idea could work, Bauer said, but it is up to the City Council to decide if that is in the best interest of the park or not.
Barreiro also suggested moving some of the jumbotrons from near the stage to back behind the beverage pavilion if needed or asking for sponsors who may want to put their name on a jumbotron.
“I just think that we are not doing enough to try to get private dollars to pay for some of these things,” Barreiro said.
Plus, the bonds taken out to fund this project are also going to fund other projects also currently under construction, he noted, so it would make sense to put something like this on hold to see how everything pans out.
Despite questions from many aldermen, some signaled their support for the new jumbotrons.
“I know everybody’s trying to do what we can to penny-pinch here,” said Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward. “But this is something that has been part of this project since day one, so I do support this.”