Crowds again park themselves at the top

Crowds again park themselves at the top

LEISA THOMPSON,THE ANN ARBOR NEWS

Dexter resident Kathy Syrkowski and her daughter Addi, 6, have a swinging good time at the Top of the Park as they groove to Corndaddy, a country-alternative rock band on Friday evening.

TOP attendees chill out in cool temperatures

BY MARIANNE RZEPKA

News Staff Reporter

Cloudy skies and cool temperatures weren’t enough to spoil the atmosphere on the first day of Summer Festival.

Even before the music began at Top of the Park at 7 p.m., cars lined up on Fletcher Street to get into the parking structure that gives TOP its name.

“If it rains, it rains,” said Sarah Batzer, of Saline. “We brought sweatshirts.”

On Friday, scores of people listened to the band Corndaddy and ate tacos, cotton candy, Indian samosas and a variety of other food from vendors at TOP. Others trooped inside the Power Center next door for the first ticket-required performance of the festival, a show by comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

Although TOP and the Power Center performances are both part of Summer Festival and have operated next to each other since the festival was founded in 1984, they’ll be separated next year.

Because of maintenance work on the Fletcher Street parking garage, TOP will have to move for the next two summers, said U-M spokeswoman Diane Brown.

As part of the $11.8 million project, workers will replace concrete slabs and fix any walls, ceilings or electrical systems in the parking structure that need repairs, she said. Some work will take place this summer, when crews shore up walls for the major work over the coming two years, said Brown.

SEE FESTIVAL, A11

■ Map of possible move for festival, A11

■ More info about Summer Festival, A11

Ann Arbor resident Erika Chesky, 4, sticks with the cotton candy as she and her family take in the sights and sounds of the Top of the Park Friday evening in Ann Arbor.

FESTIVAL FROM A1

Staff, board consider site for temporary move

Top of the Park Move

Construction planned for the Fletcher Street parking structure would move Top of the Park in 2006 and 2007. Ingalls Mall and Palmer Field are being discussed as alternate locations.

Summer Festival at a glance

What: Performances at the University of Michigan's Power Center and Hill Auditorium, as well as free music and movies on the top deck of U-M's parking structure on Fletcher Street at Washington Street.

When: Through July 10. Top of the Park music starts at 7 p.m., except for July 9, when performances begin at 5 p.m. Movies are shown Sunday through Thursday at 10 p.m.

Information: (734) 764-2538 or www.annarborsummerfestival.org. Information about community events appears daily on The News' Happenings page.

The festival staff and its board of directors are mulling over the move and don't plan on announcing the new site until after the end of this year's festival July 10.

The leading contender is Ingalls Mall, only a block away between Washington Street and North University, at the foot of the Burton Memorial Tower. Another possibility is Palmer Field, which is connected by a pedestrian bridge over Washtenaw Avenue. 

One concern is to make sure TOP and the ticketed events in the Power Center stay linked, said festival director Robb Woulfe. "There's definitely an energy that's up there (at TOP)," he said, "and if you move things farther away, you lose that energy.

"We need to make sure (Summer Festival) is one cohesive event."

Marion Curtis, who at 85 often walks to TOP from her nearby condo, said the move won't faze her. "I don't care where it goes," she said. "I'll follow it anywhere."

Curtis said she loves to listen to local bands and people-watch, especially young people hanging out with their friends, "I love youth," she said.

At 15 years of age, Chidi Uche is one of them. She said her friends all made plans by e-mail to come to TOP for the first night. "It's a good place to go because it's safe," said the Pioneer high School junior.

Asked if that's what she believes her parents believe, Uche laughed. "They don't say it, but I know that's what they think," she said.

Marianne Rzepka can be reached at (734) 994-6820 or mrzepka@annarbornews.com.