Chene Park

[lilpup]

Is the amphitheater at Chene Park profitable? The outside grounds always look like crap, trash in the pond & everywhere else, even when there hasn't been a recent event.

[One Shot]

Considering they host washed up performers probably at cheap ticket prices it's no wonder. Most that attend concerts like that have no respect for their own property let alone someone else's.
I think the place is cool but ya looks like crap most often.

[Rocko]

Who does the groundskeeping for Chene? Is it the city? A contractor? I think that's part of the problem. The people the Riverfront Conservancy have keep the Riverwalk clean do a stellar job, checking trash cans multiple times per day, picking up litter, etc.

[rjk]

"Who does the groundskeeping for Chene?"

My guess would be nobody.
If I didn't know better I'd think that people are bringing garbage from home and dumping it there. Everytime I've been in that area it's been filthy.

[Goose]

i remember hearing Ub40 there, red red wine....

but I was on a boat in the water listening to the concert......

good times

[NorthEndere]

The park is managed and operated by The Right Productions, Inc. and owned by the city. Not sure whether the management company is responsible for grounds or if it's city workers.

[English]

That's just a shame. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was beautiful and well maintained.

[Motor City Sam]

I went by there a couple of weeks ago and it looked fine, especially considering it was winter and not concert season. It always is in good shape and well maintained on concert night. It's messy after a show, but no more so than the concerts I have attended at Meadowbrook and Pine Knob/DTE Energy.

[mikeinmotown]

The management company needs to be fired and a new company should be brought in. I wonder who owns the management company? I bet it's one of King Kawamy's buddies. The staff that work there are awful, dumb and rude. The place should have concerts 5 nights a week in the summer. The DSO played there a few time. I saw Suzann Vega there for free. There are so many indie groups that could be booked but they tend to only book R&B and some Jazz. I stopped going several years ago.

[pkbroch]

The Right group is responsible for the Security, upkeep and maintenance of the grounds, or so it says on its website. The ABOUT US section has some more facts about the principals.

http://www.therightproductions.com/

[DetroitTeacher]

We had graduation there a few years ago and it was pitiful! The bathrooms were horrific, at best. No toilet paper and they stunk to high heaven, well the ONE that was unlocked was bad. The others were all locked. We also couldn't get the gates open on time and we had to walk through a construction zone [[while they were painting) in a concession stand to get the graduates to the top of the stairs for entry and then got stuck IN the concession stand because the gates to the theater were locked and we had to find someone to unlock them. We had rehearsed and were told that everything would be open and cleaned prior to our graduation. We didn't go back.

[English]

^DT, horrible. Just horrible. As a tween and teen, that was my favorite concert venue in the city. Renaissance HS used to do graduations there and I played in the music ensemble. [[Seagull crapped on me in 9th grade. I had to keep playing. That is one of the ways I learned endurance!)

The entire Rivertown area is a gem that needs considerable polishing. EVERY city that has a waterfront seems to capitalize on it except ours. It's too bad that Chene Park isn't part of a broader entertainment complex. With the success of the Riverwalk, I'd love to see some momentum in that direction, but the hottest areas in town seem to be Midtown, Greektown, and around the Campus Martius area.

[65memories]

We've had Mumford graduations there for the last 20 years and never had a problem. The facility always seemed fine during rehearsal and the ceremony...fortunately we never encountered Detroit Teacher's experience. But I have noticed that the management companies change with the political winds and some years management became a little overbearing...depending on who was Mayor [[Kwame's years were the worst). As English has stated, the Riverfront is Detroit's jewel. Chene Park needs to be a major, positive contributor to all the good things happening on the river.

[michigansheik]

the right production's website appears to have been last update in 2008?
if they are as bad as people say then we need to voice these complaints to the mayors office and city council. being an entertainment booking company it would seem to be important to have the upcoming events listed in as many places as possible including one's own website?

i think chene parks days are numbered once ford auditorium comes down...look for a corporate donation to build and name new amphitheater in its place on hart plaza and at the same time the city securing a developer to build at the chene park site.

[Hypestyles]

has the summer schedule been announced yet? I want to see Whodini and old school hip hop..

[jackie5275]

I saw BB King there in the mid 90s with some friends. We all rode in one girl's car. When we came out, her 2 front tires had been slashed. No security was anywhere around. Fortunately, one of us had their credit card on them & was able to pay for a tow truck for the vehicle & a cab for the rest of us to get home. Needless to say, I've never been back.