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Columbia plans to hire help to organize more events and festivals at Finlay Park, the once-troubled greenspace downtown that reopened late last year after a $25 million facelift.
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City leaders want a return for their investment, and have set up the park to be more than picnic tables and swings, but rather a thriving venue with a full calendar of events.
Now, the city is looking to hire experts to help run those events that leaders say will “activate” the park “as a premier downtown destination,” according to a request for proposals the city issued this month for prospective contractors.
The hiring plans come after a busy first stretch for the park, which in its roughly eight months of operation has hosted multiple music festivals and other events. But the plans also come after teen fights led to a recent festival there being forced to end early, which also led the city to issue new park rules.
More events
Since reopening in November, the park has hosted big music events like Jam Room and Songbird music festivals, holiday celebrations for Easter and July 4, and a rotating series of community activities.
City leaders want to see those events grow, which can bring more people to Columbia and boost tourism spending.
The contractor the city selects to help it with programming at Finlay Park will help plan and coordinate events at the park, from booking talent to organizing safety plans, according to the city’s request for proposals.
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The scope of the work is broad, and includes things like lining up vendors, identifying sponsors, scheduling event timelines, planning artist security, marketing events and a long list of additional responsibilities.
It’s not immediately clear what the city’s budget is for the project. Companies interested in applying for the city’s contract have until July 31 to pitch themselves and their budgets to officials.
The move comes just over a month after a Juneteenth festival being held at the park was forced to end early. Police found live ammunition at the same time a series of teen fights broke out across the park, where the 10th annual Juneteenth Freedom Fest had been going on throughout the park all day.
After the festival ended, city officials issued a string of public statements decrying the bad behavior and announcing new rules for minors, requiring that they be chaperoned by someone at least 25 years old after 5 p.m.
Columbia City Manager Teresa Wilson at that time said the behavior wouldn’t be permitted at Columbia parks, but especially not at Finlay Park.
“The amount of investment … that went into standing this park up, there’s no way it’s going to be threatened by foolishness and wrong behaviors,” Wilson said.
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