By Michael Coughlin Jr.
Those in attendance at the Orient Heights Neighborhood Council’s (OHNC) monthly meeting last week spoke about the future of the Suffolk Downs Concert Series and voiced concerns about traffic, noise, and parking problems stemming from last year’s iteration.
To start the discussion, District A7 Police Captain Dean Bickerton, who attended the meeting whilst on vacation to speak specifically about the topic, stood alongside HYM’s Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer Thomas O’Brien to address concerns from last year from those in attendance.
One attendee spoke about traffic issues and explained that it took her almost an hour to get home from Revere to Orient Heights during last year’s concert series.
“When he [O’Brien] was here the last time, he said the traffic was going to be under control. On 1A, it was not under control. Revere police were stopping people from making a turnaround right across from the gas station there — I was not allowed to go down Boardman Street — I had to go way down to the end to make the turn,” said the attendee.
Bickerton, in response, said that Boardman Street should not have been shut off and spoke in depth about the traffic management plan.
Another attendee had talked about concertgoers parking on Waldemar Avenue and had suggested getting 24/7 resident-only parking for the days that there are concerts to prevent that from happening.
“Huge issue for us because when we went through all the processes, we didn’t want any of that to happen during the build-out of the entire site, so we’ll work with BTD (Boston Transportation Department) to try and get that done,” said O’Brien.
Another attendee had voiced frustration with the sound, saying, “I realize it’s a concert series. However, you probably should work with your sound engineer a little bit more because Swan Avenue is getting blasted.”
O’Brien explained that there were no complaints regarding noise for the first round of shows last year, which occurred in June.
However, he did say, “Going into the second round of shows, it was a different type of music, and the speaker setup was set to kind of get the far end of the group of people who are gathered on the lawn, and that first night we got a lot of noise complaints.”
He also added that they adjusted the speakers on the second night and “didn’t receive much in the way of noise complaints on the second night.”
O’Brien also indicated that they are not looking for the type of show that occurred during that second installment of concerts last September, which he described as a “techno sort of thing,” to return.
To close out this part of the discussion Bickerton went through specific asks he had for Suffolk Downs, HYM, and The Bowery Presents (the concert operator) regarding the concert series.
Specifically, Bickerton wants decibel readings to be done on the perimeter and to have them monitored in real-time, a better security team, increased lighting, crosswalks, and no sound checks during school hours.
It should be noted that decibel reading was done last year, and Bickerton is hoping the city sets a decibel level to maintain at the establishment.
Bickerton also mentioned that the group is looking for a seven-day license for the concert series.
In describing the ask for the seven-day license, O’Brien said, “The concerts have not been set, so at the end of the day, we hope to be permitted for, say, 15 shows and maybe 20 shows for next year, right, but you don’t know what days they’re going to be so in order to file a permit you have to file a seven-day permit because it could be Friday it could be Saturday.”
Additionally, East Boston Neighborhood Liaison Mela Villa Gomez spoke about a community process that will occur regarding the concert series and indicated that the process is currently being developed.
Later in the meeting, O’Brien presented to the council about the Suffolk Downs redevelopment and the concert series.
In speaking about the concert series, he recapped last year’s events. He reiterated that during the June shows, they “received very few if any complaints, traffic seemed to work fine, the noise levels seemed to work fine.”
As for the second stretch of shows in September, he acknowledged “a ton of complaints” during the September 15th show, spoke about the changes made during the second show the next night, and received “next to no” complaints.
“Lessons learned. We’re going to implement all those lessons learned. Hopefully, none of that kind of music and direct the music in a way that doesn’t disturb the neighborhood,” said O’Brien.
O’Brien also walked through what is planned for this year, which includes three confirmed shows on May 18th, July 27th, and August 19th, with more to be announced.
“We’re thinking that there will be about 14 or so concerts this summer. On the seven-day permit question, because we don’t know what the dates of those other concerts will be, we were advised to apply just for the seven-day permit, so it could be — if somebody wants to come on a Thursday — or whatever it is in the summer we’re trying to be flexible in that regard,” said O’Brien.
Additionally, O’Brien walked through the schedule of a typical concert with a new change in response to feedback, which was that sound checks would not occur before 3 P.M. so it does not interfere with schools in session.
An attendee suggested some schools still have students learning until at least 4 P.M. O’Brien and his team seemed amenable to pushing the sound check time further back.
He also indicated that there will be a traffic management plan and a sound, security, and emergency response plan.
Again, O’Brien took questions from those in attendance. One attendee asked about mitigation regarding weeknight concerts — especially concerning rush hour traffic — and O’Brien mentioned that they encourage concertgoers to use public transportation and that he would focus more on the scheduled Monday night concert.
Another attendee had made suggestions for further sound mitigation through the construction of a temporary structure or even a tent.
Overall, the topic of concerts at Suffolk Downs certainly fostered an extensive discussion, and residents should keep an eye out for the upcoming community process regarding the concerts. To learn more about the scheduled concerts, visit https://stageatsuffolkdowns.com/.