An issue that came up during the Mayor’s debate in North Bay Tuesday night was how many people took in the concerts during Summer in the Park.
An audience member was frustrated that two months after the event, the public still had no idea if the concerts were well attended or not.
Deputy Mayor Sheldon Forgette said he was there and said the event was not well attended.
Mayor Al McDonald went further and said “there’s no question that it lost money”.
Both McDonald and Forgette said they didn’t know how many people took in the concerts.
Neither did councillor Mark King who during the debate took to the floor and told the audience the loss would be in the six figures.
King chairs Community Services which oversees Summer in the Park.
King said staff at City Hall had applied for a provincial grant to soften the blow and were still waiting for word on whether any provincial funding had been approved.
During his comments, King said he didn’t support the present format saying the large bands were very expensive and Summer in the Park has lost money over the last five years.
He said Summer in the Park needs to be more family oriented.
King also expected Summer in the Park to be an election issue.
After the Mayoral debate King told Moose News that he would try to have the concert numbers by Wednesday evening during the councillors’ debate at the Grande Event Centre.
Normally the Summer in the Park numbers are not released until November or December.
