Concerts to move to Gas Works

Making its second move in as many years, the Summer Nights concert series is relocating again: this time, across the lake from South Lake Union Park to Gas Works Park.

Beginning in 2006, Gas Works Park will become Summer Nights' permanent home, Mayor Greg Nickels announced Friday.

The series, which was held at Piers 62 and 63 from 1991 to 2004, moved to its South Lake Union site this year because the piers were no longer considered safe for public events.

But the move was short-lived, as workers are now scheduled to begin construction at South Lake Union Park early next year.

Community representatives from Eastlake, Fremont and Wallingford learned about the decision at a special meeting Thursday night, where parks Superintendent Ken Bounds told them the city and One Reel, which produces Summer Nights, had reached an agreement to use the park for the concert series.

But the residents aren't all on board.

"We have a lot of questions about it," said Chris Leman, secretary of the Eastlake Community Council, who attended the meeting.

People in the neighborhoods worry about a host of issues, he said, from traffic to parking to noise to the aesthetics of making the park a concert venue.

"They haven't done a parking study of how they would accommodate the crowds from these concerts, many of which will be on weeknights, and they don't appear to have done any studies of the late-night noise that would travel well by water."

They also have not considered the negative visual impact by placing "a large amphitheater smack in the middle of Gas Works Park, which is quite an icon and an important piece of the scenery of the community," Leman added.

It's a familiar refrain, said Michele Scoleri, who produces Summer Nights for One Reel.

Last year, members of the South Lake Union community also cited traffic, parking and the safety of crossing the street as potential problems when it was announced the series would move there, she said. "None of those panned out to be issues whatsoever."

Scoleri said that before the move to South Lake Union, the city and One Reel looked for two years for a suitable site to replace the piers. This move had to happen faster, said Dewey Potter, spokeswoman for the parks department, and One Reel and the city visited Myrtle Edwards Park, Smith Cove and several port properties in addition to Gas Works Park this fall.

Scoleri said they found Gas Works Park to be the best fit. It will be able to hold the seating for as many as 3,800 people and a stage.

One Reel, which holds 17 to 23 concerts each season, will begin concert setup in early May, and remove the structures by Labor Day.

The city expects the park to remain open to the public during the summer.

Judy Chia Hui Hsu: 206-464-3315 or jhsu@seattletimes.com