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DULUTH — Management of Duluth’s signature scenic outdoor performance venue will transition from the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) to a private company comprised of former center employees, if the City Council approves a contract Monday. there’s a possibility that.
Winterfell Management LLC, led by President Jeff Stark, will be responsible for producing, promoting and managing the event at Bayfront Festival Park, a more than 10-acre park located in the Port of Duluth. Bayfront Festival Park hosts the biggest show every summer. Trampled by the Turtles, the Bayfront Blues Festival, and the recently announced Willie Nelson concert.
According to the contract, Winterfell will receive a base fee of $63,425 for work from February 1 to December 31.
Mr. Stark, a former DECC operations director, was one of several employees terminated from their positions in 2023. He spent his nearly 30 years working at the Convention Center Bayfront where he was tasked with overseeing events at Festival Park.
DECC has managed Bayfront for the past 10 years in a role that Executive Director Dan Hartman described as “community service.” The park was privately managed until former Duluth Mayor Don Ness asked the convention center to take over operations, with mixed results.
“Financially, it’s never been a good situation for DECC,” Hartman said this week. He said the park is a distraction from the convention center’s other venues, which bring in more revenue to the city.
City Chief Administrative Officer David Montgomery said during Thursday’s agenda session that DECC officials have expressed interest in eliminating park management and the city needs to act quickly. He did not have time to issue a request for proposals, but he said proposals will be made in the fall for single- or multi-year agreements for early 2025.
“We were able to finish comfortably and confident in what Winterfell could do without losing anything in the rifts in between,” Montgomery said.
Stark is affiliated with Dan Russell, who served as DECC’s executive director for 28 years. In addition to future events organized by Winterfell, all concerts previously scheduled at the park will continue.
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