MINOCQUA, WI (WSAU-WXPR) — Could the Island of Minocqua become a musical destination for tourists?
A downtown businessman thinks so, and wants the town board’s blessing to bring in several rock and reggae bands for Thursday and Saturday night concerts in Torpy Park.
Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad tells WXPR Radio bands such as The BoDeans, The Verve Pipe and Rusted Root would be major draws to boost downtown shopping and area motel stays.
““We think these three to five shows that we are thinking about will obviously bring people that might not be vacationing in their second home, but might actually fill the hotels even more than they are because they are going to come here for an awesome night of music. Hopefully we get 500 to 700 people. Every business on the Island will benefit from that.”
Torpy Park is popular with tourists and locals alike. The bandshell hosts Thursday night Community Band concerts, as well as Sunday afternoon concerts.
Supervisor Billy Fried says excluding the public during the busy summer season is a major concern. The upper level of the park would be fenced off during the paid admission concert.“I think the time of the year, I would be very cautious on committing too much time to closing the park.
“The pavilion just went up this last year. Let’s see how things go and then adopt on how we want to do the use in the future. I think it’s kinda new to make a commitment those many nights…for a private entity.”
The town board scaled back the number of proposed evening concerts to just two, saying they want to see the impact on the park and the public’s reaction.
They directed Bangstad to come back with more details before giving him a final answer.
