There’s nothing left to do now but wait. After a busy final week drumming up votes to get another Levitt AMP grant for its summer concert series, the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce won’t know until Dec. 20 whether they’ll be one of the 15 recipients in 2020.
“Looks like we ended up in 14th place. We were looking at it right before, like, seconds before it closed, so we were in 14th place when it closed down,” said Andy Heuiser, events and programs director at the chamber.
Voting closed at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Levitt Foundation gives 15, $25,000 matching grants to help small- and mid-sized towns across the country elevate their outdoor concert series. Online voting narrows the pool of applicants down to 25 finalists, and the Levitt Foundation Board of Directors decides from there.
“The Levitt Foundation is all about taking underused spaces and turning them into thriving places where the public can gather. Especially since we’ve already done it once with them, they’re looking to see that community involvement and engagement and I think that we’ve done really well making that happen and the community has come out and supported it in full force,” Heuiser said.
Soldotna’s Music in the Park series, held Wednesday evenings throughout the summer at Soldotna Creek Park, has been going for five years now. It was already pretty popular, but last year, with the Levitt Foundation grant, attendance reached new heights. The record was about 2,300 people one night, with an average of 1,400 to 1,500 people per concert.
The money does come with some strings. It is a matching grant, and although in-kind services and contributions can count toward the match requirement, Heuiser said the chamber spends at least $25,000 on the music series every year. One of the requirements of the Levitt grant is to bring in bands from the Lower 48 that play all-original music. Travel, lodging and logistics add up fast, but Heuiser said the costs are worth it.
“I can say, even though it’s a little bit harder on the budget to bring those acts in, it really, really elevates the series and we think it’s worth it in every way,” Heuiser said.
With or without the Levitt grant, Soldotna Creek Park will have music again this summer. The chamber will start booking local and Alaska bands in January. If they do get Levitt money, they’ve already got a wish list started.
“We have bands already contacting us. We do have some on our list. We definitely are interested in bringing Pamuya back next year and maybe the Burroughs, if they’re available. Those were some of our most well-received nights,” Heuiser said.
The chamber plans to announce the music lineup this spring. Keep up with announcements at the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series page on Facebook.
