I have noticed that the Levitt has been renting(?) to several churches over the past year. There is usually some kind of church service or religious event held on Sundays at the Levitt.

I guess if they are paying rent to use the public facility, I don’t see an issue with it.

Where I got alarmed was when riding my bike around the event today I saw several armed private security officers(5). Most of them were openly carrying a handgun in a public space at a church service!

If you think you need to attend church services with armed guards, maybe you are attending the wrong church?

While they prepare to start their season next Friday, the Levitt has yet to release their financials, tax return or annual report from last year.

A couple of weeks ago a city official told me that the Levitt has NOT completed the tax filings and audit yet. Kind of odd how you can budget for another season without knowing how you did in 2021?

These financial statements are important because the Levitt receives public funding through the parks department, they also manage the booking of the stage for non-Levitt concerts (mostly church services) and they are a non-profit.

I am also curious what kind of money the Levitt raises through donations and other fees. There have been some wild claims made that if it were not for the private sale of alcoholic beverages at the concerts the Levitt couldn’t survive financially. Hogwash.

The Levitt has multiple funding sources. In fact they could probably raise even more money by charging a wrist band fee and cooler fee for people who wanted to bring their own adult beverages while still maintaining liquor sales from the private provider (you would only allow beer and wine in cans or plastic bottles to those who bring their own).

We will see if their annual report magically appears next Thursday 🙂

I have made it about half way thru my personal review of the bands playing the Levitt this year, and the lineup is chucked full of great Blues, Ethnic, Country, Rock, Local and Contemporary. 50 SHOWS! ALL FREE! Plus Lee Rocker closes it out!

Besides our Parks and Bike Trail, the Levitt is one of the best taxpayer investments in this city! Now if they would let us bring our own beer* and ban pets**, it would be even better 🙂

*Last year an individual alcoholic beverage was $7. It will be interesting to see if that gets raised to $8 this year. While the beverage sales do help the Levitt with contributions, I think it has been overinflated. I am waiting for the financials from 2021 to see what that percentage is. Even if we allowed people to bring their own beer and wine (no liquor) they could still keep the bar and maybe even have a cooler fee you would have to pay to receive 21+ armbands.

**My biggest concern about pets has always been about the well being of the pets. The crowd and noise can cause anxiety (I’ve witnessed many close dog fights) it is often to hot and what I see the most of is them pooping and peeing all over the lawn, and I have witnessed many people walk thru it. Can people just leave their pets at home for a couple of hours without dragging them around like some trophy everywhere? Unless it is a service dog, leave them at home. PLEASE! JazzFest always had a ban on pets, and it worked great!