CLEARWATER, Fla. — When you think of how a city spends your tax dollars, you’re probably thinking of sidewalk repairs, new stop signs, or playground equipment.
Paying bands like Cheap Trick probably isn’t what comes to mind. 10 Investigates found out the city of Clearwater paid nearly $150,000 to musical acts this summer.
Those tax-dollar-funded concerts happened during the week-long grand opening at The Sound, ending July 4 with The Florida Orchestra and fireworks.
“The fireworks were really great,” Clearwater taxpayer Jennifer Posda said. “The orchestra was really great. This was the first time I ever saw them.”
The Sound is the brand-new waterfront amphitheater in downtown Clearwater’s recently redeveloped Coachman Park.
It’s come a long way from the bandshell built in 1957.
Coachman Park has a long history of bringing music to downtown Clearwater, as home to both the Clearwater Jazz Holiday and the Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival.
City leaders like Councilmember Kathleen Beckman wanted the new venue to open with a bang.
“You only have one grand opening of this park for the next 100 years. And we wanted to make sure it was done right,” Beckman said.
So, the city paid $50,000 to the opening act: Cheap Trick, known for hits like “I Want You to Want Me,” “Surrender” and “The Flame.”
“I wasn’t aware that they had to pay Cheap Trick for $50,000,” Posda said. “And I even had a problem getting in there. So, I’d be willing to pay for my own tickets and not to use the city dollars for it.”
The Florida Orchestra got $80,000.
The city also paid The Black Honkeys $4,600 and paid The Byrne Brothers and Jah Movement $2,500 each.
“There’s better ways [to spend tax dollars]. I mean, concerts – everybody’s buying tickets for. If you want to go see a concert, you will buy a ticket,” Posda said.
She said she’d rather see her tax dollars enhancing downtown in other ways, not paying for "free" concerts.
“There are all sorts of issues in Clearwater. And I advocate for those issues every day. But this is and will be an economic generator. And you have to introduce a premier park and location to the media, to residents, to tourists. And that’s the way we chose to do it. So, I feel it was a good investment,” Beckman said.
Opening week at The Sound
10 Investigates reached out to all the opening week artists who got paid by the city. The Florida Orchestra was the only group that got back to us.
TFO’s Chief Communications Officer Kelly Smith told us the city’s money covered “the cost of professional musicians… for one rehearsal and one concert, plus music license fees, equipment, stagehands, conductor, soloist and other related expenses.”
City leaders see Coachman Park as key to the future of downtown Clearwater, where it can feel a bit “uncanny valley” — like you’re walking past fake storefronts at Disney World.
“It’s an $84 million park. It is expensive, but it is just transformative. It’s iconic. It’ll be the heart of our downtown,” Beckman said. “We have some larger landowners that have some buildings that haven’t been fully activated. That’s a challenge.”
The city paid for the design and construction of The Sound, but it contracted with Ruth Eckerd Hall to manage the venue.
On top of profit sharing, the city gets a cut of every ticket Ruth Eckerd sells for events at The Sound.
Their contract gives the city July 4, July 5, plus 10 more days a year to use the venue for its own events. So, it’s possible more taxpayer-funded concerts are in The Sound’s future.