New TOP home is a hit - but don't get too settled

Ypsilanti resident Bob Hopkins grooves to the tunes of Terraplanes during Top of the Park on Tuesday. Hopkins, who has attended the Top of the Park every year but three, is a substance abuse counselor in Detroit and says, "Every night I don't have to see clients I'm here."

New TOP home is a hit-but don't get too settled

Temporary site comes with bigger price tag

BY ROGER LELIEVRE

News Arts Writer

Top of the Park is a hit in its temporary location, but it’s too early to tell whether the free, outdoor music and movie component of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival will remain at Ingalls Mall beyond next year.

“The crowds have been fantastic. People have really enjoyed the openness of the new venue,” said Robb Woulfe, festival director. “There are families on the lawn, people throwing Frisbees; it’s very social, there’s lots of laughter - it’s exactly what a summer festival should be.”

Top of the Park complements the festival’s ticketed performances at Power Center. The event was moved for this year and 2007 to Ingalls Mall - off Washington Street east of Thayer Street, on the University of Michigan campus - due to reconstruction of the Fletcher Street parking structure, its traditional home.

Money will be the biggest factor in deciding if TOP will remain at Ingalls Mall beyond next season, Woulfe said, or return to the Fletcher Street location when work on the parking deck is finished. It cost an additional $55,000 to stage the event this year because of the new location. In addition, expenses have been incurred for lighting, signs, curb ramps for wheelchairs, and security.

“We need to look a the financial picture ... and have some good follow-up conversations with the university and the city to get their response and see what worked for them and what didn’t work,” Woulfe explained.

Diane Brown, a U-M spokeswoman, said the university will take a look at TOP after its run this summer. “We are just having the initial experience,” she said, “and we’ll be able to sit down afterwards and do some more evaluation of what went well, what could be improved and go from there.”

Although it’s difficult to tell because no official count is kept, based on beverage sales, more people seem to be attending TOP than in previous years. “We’ve definitely seen an increase,” Woulfe said. Typically TOP attracts an estimated 60,000 people each year, he added.

Ann Arbor resident Pamela Harnick and her daughter, Sylvie Swerdlow, 2, play at Top of the Park. Pamela and Sylvie were there with husband and father, John Swerdlow.

The move has not been without its problems, however, especially in the area of security.

“The beauty of Fletcher Street deck was it was a very contained area,” Woulfe said. “It was much easier to patrol the perimeter. With activities flowing all the way back to the fountain area and beyond as well as up on Washington Street we have found it a

SEE TOP, B3

TOP FROM B1

Ingalls Fountain roped off to prevent damage, injuries

bigger challenge to do that. We've added more of our TOP staff in some of those key areas, as well as having the paid professional law enforcement officials."

The fountain in Ingalls Mall was roped off after the first night of the festival because of a concern that the fountain's delicate jets would be damaged or people might be injured playing in the water. 

"We get the effect... but it makes us feel a little more comfortable knowing people aren't diving into it," Woulfe said. 

Meanwhile, Violet Souweidane of Ann Arbor, at TOP on Monday night with her husband, Ron, and several children, said she's delighted with Top of the Park's new configuration. 

"This is more conducive to bringing the family," Souweidane said. "It's much greener; the scenery is so much prettier. The other place had all that concrete and no shade.... We can sit and enjoy the music and the kids can run around."

Scott McWhinney, who works as a sound man for TOP bands, said he's heard a definite preference from audience members for the new location. "I would say nine out of 10 people like this space," he said. "That's what people tell me. You get a sense of openness, you've got the fountain, you're looking all the way down to the graduate library, there's grass, Burton Tower, there's an open sense here - most people like that."

Randy Baker, of the Ann Arbor band The Boomerangs, scheduled to play Friday at TOP, said musicians also like the new space. 

"Everybody likes the stage setup and the way sound is carrying," he said.

Bruce Bertram of Ann Arbor, who was headed to the food court with Baker, agreed: "From a further distance, sound is dramatically better than at the old location. There, if you got beyond 20 rows, you basically couldn't hear."

Not everyone is convinced.

Matt Linke and his wife, Lori Davis, have been going to Top of the Park for almost 20 years. Although they like the park-like setting, Linke said there are some drawbacks. For one, it's 

Top of the Park

Schedule

A schedule of the current night's Top of the Park events can be found every day on Page A1 of The News. The details are also available every Thursday in Spotlight magazine. 

Rules

No pets. 

No scooters, roller blades or skateboards. 

No outside food or beverages (TOP receives a portion of revenue generated by food and beverage sales from authorized concessions. The money is needed to help support the event).

Please walk bicycles. 

Outside alcohol will be confiscated. 

not as cozy. For another the seats don't slope downward, which makes it difficult to see the movie screen. And there is so much ambient lighting in the are it can be hard to see the films, Linke said after a recent showing of "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid."

"I felt personally that, as really cool as that inflatable screen is, there is so much light pollution there from all the street lights on Washingtong - all those big round globe lights are on - the movie at times was just a shadow. From a projection standpoint it wasn't all that hot," he said. 

"The food was great as always, it was fun to be there, the music was cool. We usually go at least four to five nights during a run of Top of the Park. ...We're still going to go, but we both hope it will return where it was when construction is done," he said. 

Roger LeLievre can be reached at 734-994-6848 or by e-mail at rlelievre@annarbornews.com.