During the May 27 La Conner Town Council meeting at Maple Hall, Council members supported the present downtown concert schedule but authorized Mayor Marna Hanneman to pursue sharing future live music dates with the Port of Skagit’s La Conner Marina.
Concerns about excessive noise and large crowds hindering access to stores near Gilkey Square have led Town officials to consider rotating concert locations. But such a move appears unlikely for now.
“The current (concert) series has started,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas said. “Unfortunately, it’s a little late in the year to switch locations.”
Thomas added that there are advantages and disadvantages to suggested alternate concert locations around town in terms of parking, seating, elevated platforms or stages, and electric hookups.
The marina, though, appears to offer the best sites for splitting concert events with Gilkey Square going forward.
Hanneman said she would confer with Port of Skagit Executive Director Sara Young about a potential concert sharing plan. There is guarded optimism that those talks will be successful.
“A couple years ago, when the Port was working on its revitalization plan for the marina, they identified an area for these types of events,” Thomas said. “But those plans might have changed since then.”
Volume levels and congestion were reportedly lower for the May 25 concert.
“Last Sunday,” said Center Street resident Jerry George, “the parking pressure was not bad in the neighborhood. It wasn’t very loud, either. We didn’t hear any complaints from the neighbors.”
Bill Reynolds: bill@laconnercommunitynews.org. Bill is a general assignment reporter who covers Town government, schools, and spot news.
