Increase seating at Sudbury amphitheatre, council says

Sudbury city council is worried the new Bell Park amphitheatre could be quiet for most of this summer.

Tuesday night, council debated spending $300,000 to expand the vendor area around the new concert venue, but the discussion turned to how the city can convince promoters to keep holding shows there.

Councillor Fabio Belli said a shortage of seats has meant few bookings for this season.

"Right now, as we stand, that facility's going to be vacant with the exception of two [festivals] — Summerfest and Northern Lights Festival Boreal — booking that facility," Belli said. "The biggest problem is seating. Ideally, we have to move on this report. We can't wait until October or we're going to miss the boat on … a full season."

Councillor Jacques Barbeau said the problem with the amphitheatre’s 500-seat capacity is that about 1,200 ticket holders end up sitting on the grass. He noted that if promoters aren't happy, the city won't make money.

"We can look at all kinds of improvements," Barbeau said. "We can look at footpaths and this and that and the other thing, but if we're not going to be able to make money at that place, we're beating a dead horse, quite frankly."

Council voted to keep the $300,000 in the budget, but it will decide exactly how to spend it, after it reads a staff report on the amphitheatre, which is due in the next few months. That money would reportedly only buy about 150 more seats.