Amphitheater awarded more than $300,000 grant

Last year the coronavirus pandemic impacted the entertainment industry as shows and concerts across the country were halted or postponed in order to stop the spread of the virus. This not only affected venues in larger cities, it also had an impact right here at home as the Beaver Dam Amphitheater was forced to cancel shows, reduce capacity and hold drive-in concerts – all which led to a loss of revenue for the venue.

In order to help venues recover from a loss of venue, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program was appropriated more than $16.2 billion for grants via the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. On Friday, the Green River Area Development District announced that the Beaver Dam Amphitheater had received a $332,000 grant.

The amphitheater is among the over 11,000 venues, which include live performing arts centers and organizations, movie theaters, museums, music venues and theater production companies, across the country that have received grant money.

According to Beaver Dam Mayor Paul Sandefur, the amount of the grant was based on a formula comparing revenue from 2019 versus 2020.

“So, obviously our revenue in 2020 was way down from what it generally is in a year,” he said. “We didn’t request a certain amount of dollars. In fact, we didn’t know how much the grant was going to be for until we actually applied for it.”

The mayor said the amount of the grant was based strictly on the revenue from the amphitheater and not tourism itself.

“Ours is a little different because the amphitheater is run by the tourism commission. They just pulled out strictly amphitheater revenue not tourism revenue. It had nothing to do with the restaurant tax that was collected. This is revenue through shows and sponsorships.”

The grant allows money to be spent on things such as consulting, mortgage, personnel to support the venue as it recovers from the impact of the pandemic as well as for payroll costs and utilities.

One of the bigger items Beaver Dam’s grant will go for is the mortgage note payment, Sandefur said, including last year’s and this coming year’s.

“We’re fortunate. Through our tourism commission, we could have covered (the note payment), but it would have put a big financial dent in any other events and activities that we normally do – Christmas events, Strawberry Festival or Sounds on Second – shows like that that the tourism commission funds,” Sandefur said. “It’s not like payments would have gone unmade, but it sure does help keep from taking away from other things. This helps us continue on a normal footing.”

Sandefur also said there were some costs to the amphitheater associated with the pandemic that they could “reimburse” themselves with through the grant. One such item is their ticketing system and seating realignment.

Going into 2020, the amphitheater had partnered with a new ticketing agency with plans to change the way tickets were purchased. At prior concerts, those purchasing tickets could buy golden circle tickets or tickets in the lower level or lawn - which was first come first serve. Beginning last year, that system was going to change. Seats were going to be available in the lower level and those buying tickets were going to be able to purchase an exact row and seat.

“When COVID hit all that changed,” Sandefur said. “We put our seating under the whole COVID safety model with social distancing. You could by a table with four chairs in the lower arena and the tables were in pods to allow for social distancing. We lost about half of our seating in the lower arena and it cost to have people come in and redraw those seating areas. We can use the grant for this type of thing as well.”

The grant allows for the purchase of equipment that had to be put on hold because of the pandemic.

“We did have some purchases of equipment that we held off on that we are now going to be able to make.”

All of the 2021 shows thus far have been successful and operated in the black, according to the mayor. While concerts and events do keep the amphitheater financially sound, Sandefur also noted that the amphitheater events also help put a lot of money in the community through restaurants and businesses.