INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — There will be no more Movies in the Park in Indian River County if the Brevard County agency that trucked in the big screens sticks with its decision to stop crossing the county line.
“I just don’t have the manpower,” said Brevard South Area Parks Regional Manager Greg Minor, explaining that the key staffer who traveled into Fellsmere, Sebastian and even to Pointe West has left his post, taking a job in Cape Canaveral.
The empty position makes for an easy cut as Minor works on his department’s budget.
“I won’t have to lay off a warm body,” he said. The position cost the department $55,000 annually, including benefits.
While there is staff in Brevard that will continue to put on Movies in the Park at Brevard parks, no one will be tasked to traveling outside the county to offer the program. No staff members will be assigned to train Indian River County people to run the equipment and the equipment itself won’t be loaned out.
“I don’t believe that would be possible,” Minor said of training others or loaning equipment. “We’re already short-staffed.”
The decision will have an immediate impact on the City of Fellsmere, which has benefited from resident Wanda Szeman’s efforts to bring in the free entertainment on a regular basis.
Pointe West in Vero Beach has paid for one more movie, which is expected to be honored.
Whether the move will impact the City of Sebastian remains to be seen. City Manager Al Minner said he hadn’t heard from Brevard officials.
Minner said the city has had a trade agreement with Brevard Recreation – the city provides the portable stage, commonly referred to as the Clamshell, and Brevard provides one movie screening.
Given the arrangement, Minner said he wasn’t sure if they would be impacted by the decision.
As it is, Sebastian will have a Movie in the Park at Riverview Park on Friday. Wreck it Ralph will be the featured film.
Szeman said she was disappointed to hear that Brevard would no longer work with her to provide the free family entertainment – though she, through donations, paid for the service.
“Everyone throws that budget in front of you,” Szeman said.
Szeman is now left trying to figure out how to keep the program alive in the city and is considering the options.
Purchasing the necessary equipment would be too daunting a task for Szeman alone, she said.
“I wish I could do it, but I can’t put that money into it,” Szeman said.
Estimates for a screen and audio system range from $8,000 to $20,000 – depending on the type of screen and systems.
Minor said he was surprised that Indian River County Recreation didn’t already have its own system and was relying on Brevard to put on the Movies in the Park and Screens on the Green.
But could Indian River County Recreation take on such a program?
Scott Seeley, the Indian River County recreation coordinator, said it’s an issue the department explored a few years ago.
“I know they’re not cheap,” Seeley said of the movie systems, and the budget could prove to be a challenge.
Seeley said the department would seek partners in the community to keep the movies going.
“It’s been a great run,” he said of the Screen on the Green program at Pointe West.
The county partnered with the developer to provide the movies.
The last show at Pointe West, in March, attracted 800 people. The movies tended to attract between 300 and 800 people, depending on the movie, the weather, and other activities going on in the area, according to Seeley.
Fellsmere’s movies consistently brought out a couple hundred people and was beginning to hit stride.
“It was growing,” Szeman said, adding that the residents were excited to be able to see a movie with the whole family without driving to Vero Beach.
Pointe West President Chuck Mechling, who also serves on the board of the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce, said that this could be an opportunity for someone to start a business and provide the movies in the park.
Pointe West started out using a company based in Gainesville to do the Screen on the Green – but the company had issues with transportation from time to time, leading Mechling to find another provider.
“Brevard County was a good deal,” he said.
The company he once contracted for the movies has since gone out of business, according to Mechling.
Sebastian River Area Chamber Director Beth Mitchell agreed with Mechling’s assessment that perhaps a new business to could spring up to fill the recreation gap.
“This is a business that should happen,” she said. “Some entrepreneur should take advantage of the opportunity.”
Mechling said that in the absence of another provider, his development might just move forward on its own to buy the equipment and run the Screen on the Green.
If Pointe West were to do that, Mechling said he’d consider expanding the movie selections to more than just children and family offerings.
For instance, there might be a Classic Film series showing such films as Gone with the Wind and Casablanca. There could also be a Comedy series featuring The Three Stooges.
“We’re going to have to figure this out,” Mechling said.
