EVANSVILLE – For the first time in 13 years, there’s a chance Evansville’s Mesker Amphitheatre may reopen.
The Board of Park Commissioners asked permission to field lease proposals for the 73-year-old West Side venue during its meeting on Wednesday.
Commissioners approved the motion unanimously. Evansville Parks & Recreation Director Danielle Crook said during the meeting that they wanted to approve the RFPs to see if anyone was interested in relaunching the long-ignored and historic venue.
“There’s no guarantee that anything will come back,” she said.
One group, however, told the Courier & Press they’re interested. Tim Drake, owner The Mill Event Center and Amphitheater in Terre Haute, said his group is “100% going to put in a proposal.” The Mill has several well-known acts booked this summer, including Alabama and ZZ Top.
Drake called the RFPs “great news.”
“We have been waiting for this for so long,” he said.
According to a news release from the city, the RFP will be open for 60 days. Organizations will be able to submit “detailed proposals” for use of Mesker as an entertainment venue. The parks board will review the proposals.
“Mesker Amphitheatre holds a special place in the hearts of many Evansville residents; it’s where generations of families have come together to enjoy live music, performances, and community events,” Mayor Stephanie Terry said in the release. “We believe it’s time to explore new opportunities to breathe life back into this beloved venue. Today’s action is a meaningful step toward that goal.”
Mesker closed since 2012
Mesker has remained locked and closed to the public since 2012, but the last big concert in there took place three years earlier in 2009, courtesy of the Doobie Brothers. It’s languished in various forms of decay ever since.
Opened in 1952 with the help of a $250,000 endowment from namesake George Mesker, the venue closed after years of declining use. The acts that have played there include some of the biggest names in 20th century music: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and more.
KISS has played there. So has Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Bennett, Aerosmith, Harry Belafonte and scores of others.
In 2012, former Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke commissioned a study that found it could cost as much as $13 million to reopen the venue safely. Its concrete pavilion, now stripped of seats, has a sharp decline that wouldn’t meet modern Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
And that’s just one of many problems. The hulking metal risers on the stage are inoperable, the dressing rooms under the stage flood, the number of bathrooms is insufficient, and the flooring in the ticket booth has the architectural integrity of a soggy sponge.
Then there’s its neighbor: Mesker Park Zoo. Erik Beck, the zoo’s executive director, told the Courier & Press in 2024 that if the amphitheater ever reopened, officials would likely need to build a large, expensive sound wall that could shield the zoo’s sensitive animals from loud music.
While the city owns the venue, zoo security keeps an eye on it 24 hours a day.
“What we know about caring for animals nowadays versus what we knew in the 1950s and ’60s is very different,” he said. “So would we put a venue that’s gonna push out 200 decibels in close proximity to wild animals?”
There are cosmetic issues, too. When the Courier & Press toured the venue last year, random graffiti dotted the brick walls around the stage. “Nuke Vincennes,” one said. “Abolish anime,” another added.
But in April 2024, Mayor Stephanie Terry said during her state of the city address that officials were in early talks about the venue.
“While I don’t want to over promise, I am cautiously – and I mean cautiously – optimistic we’ll have news in the coming months,” Terry said at the time.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Parks board asks for proposals to potentially reopen Evansville’s Mesker Amphitheatre
Reporting by Jon Webb and Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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