WILMINGTON — Budget shortfalls forced the city to scale back its aspirations for the North Waterfront Park surrounding the Live Nation venue, but it looks like there’s a new plan to replace the recently-scrapped cafe with multiple food-and-beverage kiosks built from shipping containers.
Related: Wilmington’s reduced North Waterfront Park aspirations could bring food trucks to the park
In November, city council was presented with revised plans for the park, which included eliminating and scaling back nearly $10 million worth of features to stay under budget. One of the major cutbacks was replacing a “cooking kitchen,” which could serve the park year-round, with a “catering kitchen,” geared towards serving the needs of the Live Nation venue.
Last year, Amy Beatty, Wilmington’s community service director, said the city might rely on food trucks and vendor carts. It now appears the city is going in a different direction, including four kiosks operated by Live Nation.
In an email to Beatty, Live Nation Carolinas General Manager Jared Stone sent several design sketches and prices; Stone said the North Waterfront Park versions would not be exactly the same, but noted: “this is a good representation of what to expect.”
The example designs, by Boxman Studios, included custom-build and modified cargo container ranging in size from 10 to 40 feet long, configured to serve as bars, kitchens, bathrooms, or retail. Prices ranged from $65,000-$85,000 for the smallest bar units, to $300,000-$450,000 for the largest kitchen units.
Stone referenced earlier discussions about having four “on site for the season only.” Replying, Beatty noted that keeping one of the kiosks open outside of Live Nation events — when the area was in “park mode” — would also be beneficial.
“I think having one of these operational in ‘park mode’ would be a great addtional revenue stream for Live Nation, especially given all of the residential units being built around the park,” Beatty wrote. “At a recent meeting with PPD executives, they were lamenting the lack of options for their employees to eat lunch in the northern district.”
Beatty also noted that there is not currently much retail planned for the mixed-used project being developed between the North Riverfront Park and the Port City Marina and Marina Grill.
Construction on the park is expected to begin this year; the park is expected to be open later in 2020.
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