Brennan Bourque thinks Everett Arena should open up for live music.
Bourque told city councilors they should find ways to diversify events to meet the needs of the people and generate more revenue to pay for some upgrades.
An obvious choice would be to host live music events in the arena, which he figures could hold up to 3,000 people by including seating or general admission on the floor.
The aging area is due for $3.2 million capital investment, primarily for the mechanical room and new compressors.
The city could make money off liquor and food sales and parking if it hosted concerts, saving taxpayers from paying for the upgrades, Bourque said.
Rather than compete with other music venues in town, it could help draw other types of acts and put Concord more squarely on the entertainment map. The 24-year-old Bourque said Everett’s arena style, compared to the Capitol Center of the Arts’ theater seating, caters to a younger crowd.
“I hope to leave this town better than when I came into it,” he told councilors. “And maybe, just maybe, one of those things can be speaking up for live music and supporting it.”
The best-case scenario, he said, is that the city unlocks a potential revenue stream worth millions and grows music tourism. Worst case, they spend more money without exploring his ideas.
At the Finance Committee meeting to consider next year’s budget, City Manager Tom Aspell, said the compressors were manufactured in 1949 or 1950s, even though the arena was built in the 1960s. They were bought used at a garage sale.
Due to issues with finding replacement parts and the potential risk of an ammonia leak inside the building, Aspell recommended the upgrade. Newer systems would also cut down on energy costs by switching the piping and programmable control sequencing.
The facility would still need to make some adjustments to the mechanical room to comply with EPA ammonia safety requirements.
“That’s what we’d have to do if we wanted to stay in the existing facility,” Aspell told the finance committee.
Currently, the facility does not break even operationally. Its net loss for the 2026 year is projected to be around $142,650.
According to Aspell, the city has optimized business with festivals, roller rink and ice time. Insurance costs are high because of the liability at hockey rinks, but Aspell argued that the city aggressively looks at keeping costs reasonable.
He asked councilors if they wanted to stay in the arena business. In fact, he is recommending it.
“I think it’s a very important amenity for the community, it’s one of the things that makes Concord special,” he said.
Memorial Field Update
The city is at a crossroads with its largest athletic facility, Memorial Field, with city and school board members hashing out an affordable plan to upgrade the area.
School Board representative Barb Higgins, who was absent from last month’s committee meeting, was upset that plans for the park would be scaled back below a $19.4 million price tag.
“I’m wondering when the city shifted and decided they did want option D and didn’t think it was too much money,” she said.
That plan, referred to as Option D, would have moved the track and football fields to the back corner, reoriented the baseball field and included two new softball fields where the current track is.
The lower cost plan, Option A, would primarily rebuild the fields in the current configuration. This plan, priced around $13.6 million, would still require a complete tearing apart of the field for drainage repair, but little change to the layout.
Councilors Jeff Foote and Nathan Fennessy both said this option would not serve the community long-term, nor maximize the potential for athletics events at Memorial Field.
Another major point of contention was artificial turf versus natural grass. It was not decided which fields would be which surface type.
The committee asked the designers for more input and will reconvene sometime next month in hopes of finalizing a reworked plan.