TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo City Council on Tuesday approved handing over the reins of the 2024 live summer concert series in Promenade Park to Hunter Brucks and his Monroe, Mich.-based company, HBC Management, in a 7-5 vote.
Council members Carrie Hartman, John Hobbs III, Nick Komives, Sam Melden, Katie Moline, Vanice Williams and Matt Cherry voted in favor of the license agreement for the series. Supporters of the agreement, which includes Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, say it's a low-risk endeavor that can ensure a summer staple in downtown Toledo previously run by ProMedica can continue for another year.
Williams, who represents district four, which includes Promenade Park, did not answer questions from WTOL 11 as to why she voted in favor of the agreement.
Council members Cerssandra McPherson, Theresa Morris, George Sarantou, Tiffany Whitman and Theresa Gadus voted against the agreement.
McPherson, who voiced her opposition to the license agreement multiple times during Tuesday's council meeting and again to WTOL 11 after the meeting concluded, says that Brucks continues to avoid showing council the financial statements they have asked for to gain their trust in his ability to deliver on his promises.
McPherson told WTOL 11 she has many uncertainties about Brucks, such as his past history as a concert promoter, his vow to employ union workers and his intention to install 3,500-3,800 fixed, stadium seats in the park. She said that if that amount of seats is permanently installed in a city park that hosts a variety of events throughout the year, it would not be a park anymore.
McPherson also noted an incident at a council meeting two weeks ago where Brucks became agitated by questions from a WTOL 11 reporter about his business background and said "I'm only trying to do something good for you people" to a group of council members, including McPherson. She said this was a racist and classist comment from Brucks, who has since issued a statement saying that his words were misunderstood and taken out of context.
The city has been considering the agreement to lease the park to Brucks for $10 since late August.
Brucks says the city will have no financial risk and his company will provide security and other staff.
He will fund the shows and take profits, but he said there will be a financial benefit to the city.
“Our marquee acts will increase the hotel tax, help restaurants, motels, shopping,” Brucks said in a 79-minute sit-down interview with WTOL 11, adding that for big-name acts, visitors would likely stay in town for multiple days.
Watch the full, unedited interview here:
Mayor Kapszukiewicz said the "one-year, no risk, no cost deal" to allow Brucks to run the series is "impossible to pass up."
He also noted that Brucks is on the hook for at least 10 concerts and has promised he can book significantly more, while ProMedica only ran four concerts in 2023 and received $100,000 each from the city and the county to do so.
Kapszukiewicz said that while logistics like settling on a contract and conversations with ConnecToledo and ProMedica still need to happen, Brucks can begin booking concerts in an effort to return the series "to a scale we haven't seen in Toledo for probably 25-30 years."
In response to city council's vote, a ProMedica spokesperson offered the following statement reflecting on the concert series' tradition:
"While ProMedica decided not to host a concert series in 2024, the organization is proud of the momentum it has helped to create in downtown Toledo by hosting the concert series in Promenade Park for six years. Tremendous potential exists for another organization to leverage the existing framework and continue the recent concert series tradition. We wish local officials and their partners the best with continuing the momentum next summer."
Also following the decision, Brucks provided a statement Wednesday expressing gratitude to city council and offered a possible timeline for the event:
"I'm thankful and I appreciate the outcome of the decision of the city council. Our intentions are to immediately begin the process of programming shows for 2024 at Promenade Park.
We will begin discussions with the city on optics and placement for seating and temporary infrastructure needed. We hope to place the stage in place by April of 2024 and begin the series, hopefully, by mid-May."
Editor's note: The following story has been updated from the original to include the above statements from ProMedica and Brucks.