American Legion Park in St. Ignace will be transformed into an outdoor movie theater for 10 Sunday evenings from July 4 through September 5 as a part of the free weekly movie program funded with $15,000 from the St. Ignace Special Events Committee.

The group, which for the first time elected voting representatives and officers at its meeting Thursday night, March 11, decided to contract with Neil and Julie Hill of St. Ignace for two years to provide the movie program, which is hoped to draw visitors, entertain residents, and attract people to the downtown area through the end of each summer weekend. The committee also adopted official by-laws, discussed its annual budget, and granted $1,000 toward the Bayside Live music festival.

Mr. Hill said his company, SoundWave Music Professional DJ Service and Entertainment, will purchase the cinema-sized, inflatable screen and projection system and pay for movie licensing fees out of the yearly payment. Just about any movie that is out on DVD, he said, is available for outdoor screening, although most movies in the summer program will be selected from a list of year-old and classic movies, because of lower licensing fees.

Some of the top all-time family movies he suggested for the free showings include The Wizard of Oz, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Jaws, Annie, Casablanca, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The top of the inflatable screen is 24 feet off the ground, and its viewing surface is nine feet high by 16 feet wide. The movies, he said, should start at dusk for optimal viewing.

The City of St. Ignace began screening outdoor movies at the lawn outside Little Bear East Arena in the summer of 2007, and offered them again in 2009. City Manager Eric Dodson said plans were being made to bring the outside contractor back this summer to screen movies on six dates, but said the city would likely eliminate this idea now that the special events group has committed to the movie program.

The cost of bringing movies to town, Mr. Dodson said, was completely funded through an advertisement reel that ran before the movie screening started, something the special events committee hopes to continue to make the free movie program self-sustaining.

Mr. Hill said screenings would be similar to the ones organized by the city in previous years, but that he would be using a higher-quality, 3,000 watt, professional sound system to improve the experience.

He recommended American Legion Park over other possible locations like Kiwanis Beach and the DNR Landing next to ACE Hardware, because of the availability of electricity, restrooms, parking, a large grassy area, and the fact that motorists from either direction can see activity going on there.

The park is just south of the Star Line Railroad Dock.

Many in the group said they like the idea that people could come sit on the grass so near the water, eat a bag of popcorn, and watch movies right in downtown St. Ignace. They also speculated that adding a free, family-friendly Sunday night activity to each weekend's line-up of events downtown may attract tourists to stay in town an extra night.

The group also discussed the possibility of selling the rights to sell concessions, although the group would like to see such a vendor offer free popcorn to attract crowds. They also discussed renting folding chairs for a low fee to movie-goers, acknowledged that some money may need to be saved to clean up the park before and after the event, and proposed that an alternate location, like inside Little Bear East, be set in case of inclement weather.

After considering some of these possible costs, the group decided to budget $15,000, rather than the $12,000 originally proposed, toward the free movie program this year, even though they may not need that much to run the events.

Committee Appoints Board, Elects Officers, and Sets Budget

The special events committee has been meeting informally over the past three years and has begun to support and launch activities throughout the year using funds from profitable events like U.P. Pond Hockey. Thursday night, the group appointed a seven-member, voting board in case those in attendance cannot reach a consensus about a particular issue.

“I don't see us ever having to put something to a vote,” member Mark Sposito said. “We have run three years on a consensus,” but the structure is being put in place just in case a vote is needed.

Mr. Sposito proposed a board consisting of seven members, including the director of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), who is Deb Evashevski, the director of the Chamber of Commerce, who is Janet Peterson, the director of the Visitors Bureau, who is Debbie Durm, and four citizens at-large, Mr. Sposito, Cheryl Schlehuber, Dave Kunze, and Mike Kamyszek.

Ms. Durm was elected secretary and treasurer, Mr. Sposito as board chair, and Cheryl Schlehuber as vice-chair.

Profits from last year's events, including nearly $29,000 from pond hockey, about $2,000 from Fish Feast, and $920 from the music festival, totaled about $31,000, a budget the group said they could use to fund this year's activities.

No further purchases of equipment or any other up-front expenditures are needed for the pond hockey tournament, but $5,000 of the budget will be held in reserve in case an event is cancelled and costs are incurred without any revenue.

The group decided to budget $15,000 for two years for the movie program and to contribute $1,000 toward Bayside Live, since the same amount will not be provided to the event by the Visitors Bureau this year. The committee will spend $2,500 for payments on the outdoor tents the group purchased for pond hockey, fish feast, and other events. These payments will be made for three years, when the tents will be paid off.

After all of these expenditures, the group has $7,500 yet in the budget, which they decided not to allocate until they decide how best to use the funds.

Additionally, the St. Ignace Visitors Bureau has decided to contribute $10,000 for advertising events and local tourism to people outside the region, and the Special Events Committee will now decide how to spend it each year. A portion of these funds, $1,000, has already been spent this year on local television advertising to promote the U.P. Winter Fest series of events.

The public is welcome to take part in the special events committee meetings, and committee members hope residents will provide input to help them build events in St. Ignace.

Meetings are usually held at 4 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month, although the group meets at the same time on the second Thursday of March and April. The group meets at the Mackinac Grille restaurant. Anyone may contact Mr. Sposito at 643-7482 for more information about the committee.