ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A big change is coming for the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, but you might not notice if you see a show. At least right away.
The St. Johns County Commission voted Tuesday to transition management of the popular outdoor music venue from the county to a local nonprofit.
The decision came after an advisory board made up of five prominent community members took a hard look at the operations of the St. Augustine Amphitheater and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and decided the best way to maximize profit and keep the venue among the best, is to move management from the local government to a nonprofit group.
“They are beating out places like Red Rocks, the Hollywood Bowl, things like that. So it’s not what was wrong, it’s what can make better best,” Dylan Rumrell, vice chair of the Amphitheater and Concert Hall Advisory Committee, told News4JAX.
According to Pollstar Magazine, the 5,000-seat St. Augustine Amphitheatre ranked number one in the US and number two in the world based on tickets sold in the first half of this year with more than 106,000.
It’s known to attract big-name acts like...the Wu-Tang Clan, The Avett Brothers and John Legend.
But even with that success, and an estimated economic impact of nearly $40 million, an advisory board found it wasn’t living up to its full potential.
Right now, the venues are run by the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division, but the committee found in some cases it is hamstrung by government regulations that sometimes slow things down.
“So, when a legal contract needs to be reviewed quickly in order to secure Willie Nelson or another band to come in, and it takes eight to 10 to 15 days to respond. We lose that act,” chair of the Amphitheater and Concert Hall Advisory Committee, told commissioners.
The committee also found it was hard to retain top talent to run the facility because it couldn’t pay what other venues could. Now theater staff and the advisory board will on a business plan as it move to a nonprofit. The plan includes appointing a new board to run the nonprofit that will not be paid a salary.
The committee said it also gives the venues more access to grant money that it wouldn’t have as a government entity.
Rumrell said the average concertgoer probably won’t notice changes right away, but it could pay off with bigger acts and better amenities in the future.
“For the fans, like you and me, you know, just hang on it’s only going to get better in St. Johns County. And at the St. Augustine Amphitheater and concert hall,” Rumrell said.
County commissioners agreed they still want some government oversight so there are plans for a yearly audit to make sure the money is being spent properly.