RACINE — Racine's Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday for the city to offer 5K Events an extended contract to continue managing Festival Park, the city's lakefront festival site.
The move comes after 5K Events' previous contract expired in December.
Watch: Event organizers welcome contract progress between City of Racine and Festival Park
The news is welcome for organizers of some of Racine's largest events.
Pat McLeod is working to bring Saints on the Lake — a three-day festival hosted by Racine's Catholic churches — to Festival Park this summer.
"It's a beautiful site. It's a beautiful venue," McLeod said.
McLeod said consistency of a management team is vital for large-scale event planning.
"The planning of these large events is not just two or three months. It's 10, 11, 12 months," he said. "So continuity of management is extremely important."
McLeod said a signed contract would allow organizers to begin planning next year's festival immediately after this summer's event.
"It allows us, if it's signed, to plan next year's festival as soon as this is over, to start that and know that we're going to have that same management group, which is critical," McLeod said.
For Salmon-A-Rama organizers, the Common Council's decision is a step in the right direction.
"In all, it seemed like there was some positive direction in identifying what the key concerns were, and the aldermen seemed to be open to listening to try to create solutions between the two," said Josh Sopczak, president of Salmon Unlimited Wisconsin, which puts on Salmon-a-Rama.
The nine-day fishing tournament was historically held at the Festival Park site, left, and then returned when 5K Events took over.
"How we brought it back here was really a change of management and an openness to create a partnership contract or agreement that is a win for the city and a win for the nonprofit," Sopczak said.
He agreed with McLeod's sentiment regarding continuity of management, as Salmon-a-Rama is already looking ahead to its 2027 event.
"We just appreciate having a little bit of stability for the next six to twelve months, so we know how to plan for those," Sopczak said.
Now Sopczak and his team are waiting to see how contract negotiations continue to play out.
"That would be a great relief if it all plays out well," Sopczak said.
Patrick Flynn with 5K Events said Wednesday he was reviewing the city's contract, and said several matters still needed to be resolved, including details about signage allowance and financial losses. Flynn said 5K Events is willing to take on losses if the city is willing to split profits.
5K Events has until June 9 to accept or deny the city's proposal. If accepted, it will go to the city's Finance and Personnel Committee before heading back to the Common Council for final approval.
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