A musical theater throwback — performed on the Mississippi River in Grand Rapids — is history.
The city has ended Grand Rapids Showboat's lease at a riverfront venue synonymous with the vaudeville show performed there for six decades. Following that September vote, the nonprofit decided to dissolve.
But its board members are still protesting the loss of the venue for what could become a biofuel plant. Showboat Landing is the last stage of its kind to sit atop the Mississippi River, they say, and ought to remain a place to experience the arts beside it.
"It seems like the community wants to have a conversation, an honest conversation about what the best use of the Showboat Landing is," said Benjamin Braff, past president of the nonprofit and a member of the city's Arts and Culture Commission.
The landing, officially called Syndicate Park, for decades has been home to summer performances of Mississippi Melodie Showboat, a show performed on and beside a river paddleboat that promised to "recreate turn-of-the-century entertainment."
But since the 1990s, the city has been eyeing it for industrial development.
In September, the City Council unanimously decided to terminate Showboat's lease. Afterward, in video recap of that meeting, Mayor Dale Adams said that the land has long been zoned for industry. Adams did not respond to calls and e-mails requesting comment.
The city is focusing on improving residents and tourists' access to the river downtown, instead, he said in the video. He pledged to help Showboat find a new venue.
