Howard Park aims to install bandshell

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- With the gorgeous weather Friday, you may be thinking about summer concerts! While summer is still a ways away, the city of South Bend could have a new outdoor venue for concerts, plays, and more.

Imagine it; the sun is setting on a beautiful night in South Bend, you've got your lawn chair out, and you're ready to watch a live performance. That dream could become a reality right here at Howard Park.

It's early in the process, but this potential new spot could address a need the city has for a larger outdoor live performance venue. One city official tells ABC57 Howard Park already hosts some live performances using a temporary stage, so this would be an upgrade.

"If you visit the park right now, there is a spot already identified for a bandshell, we currently rent stages and put stages there, we hold outdoor concerts there during the summer, and this is just kind of the next step of that, and putting a more structured venue in Howard Park," said Jitin Kain, Deputy Director of Public Works for South Bend.

Last Thursday, the city's redevelopment commission approved $250,000 to be put towards designing the bandshell. It's been a discussion since 2019, when Howard Park began its redesign.

"It's something that was in our plans for Howard Park, it's just something we couldn't execute at the time and so now we're at the point where we're putting some design resources together to envision what that bandshell would look like," said Kain.

The city learned of the public's desire for this outdoor venue through public meetings and conversations. One resident who spoke with ABC57 says she is all in on the bandshell.

"Anything that builds up South Bend, and creates more family fun activities, I'm all for. It's a great town, we need to keep building on it. I like things close to home," said Pam Welch, South Bend resident.

The city is currently working on grants and other private donations to fund the bandshell, which is estimated to cost around 5 million dollars, something that was a massive roadblock during previous discussions.

"A bandshell was always contemplated in the Howard Park redesign done in 2019, at the time, there weren't enough funds to actually build a bandshell, so that portion of the project was put on hold and we're finally here today where we can start thinking about building a bandshell," said Kain.

If things proceed as planned, construction could begin as early as next year.