TOLEDO, Ohio — Within weeks of Hunter Brucks pulling out of plans to build an amphitheater in Waterville, his name surfaced again. The city of Toledo announced discussions were underway tagging his HB Concerts, Inc., with scheduling, coordinating and booking the live summer concert series currently run by ProMedica.
According to Brandon Selhorst, the city of Toledo's director of economic development, the 2024 concert series hinges on city council approving the proposal. If the event's future were more certain, planning would have begun a few months ago, he said.
"If council doesn't approve this, it's very likely that there will not be a concert series next year," Sehlhorst said.
Brucks said he had a “pleasant” meeting with council members and that they had “good questions.”
“All roads lead me to believe we’re good,” says Brucks. “Anything can happen. I’ve seen that.”
Brucks said he sees real potential in what he can do with the event and the site, downtown Toledo's Promenade Park.
"Believe it or not, if it's just tweaked a little bit, (it) can hold 8,500 to 9,500 (people),” Brucks said. “So we'll bring in a major concert venue."
When asked if Promenade Park can hold that many people safely, he said, “we’ll reconfigure it.”
“We’re promoters, producers, talent buyers, full line production, etcetera, marketing, all of it,” he said. “So the deal with ProMedica and the city, of course, county’s involved somewhat. We take the risk. So the citizens shouldn’t worry about tax dollars going to this kid from Maybee, Michigan’s pipe dream. It’s not a pipe dream, this is what I do. So, we’re going to come in with a full business model. We’ll have payroll, taxes we’ll pay the city. 140-150 people plus, a night.”
You can hear more of our interview Sunday at 8:30 a.m. as part of our ongoing community affairs programming with WTOL 11's Leading Edge.
