EVANSVILLE – Every time you talk about Mesker Amphitheatre, you run into a new problem.
Standing outside the historic/rotting West Side venue last week, Mesker Park Zoo Executive Director Erik Beck gestured toward the penguin exhibit that sits just a few feet away.
“The zoo is right there. What we know about caring for animals nowadays versus what we knew in the 1950s and ’60s is very different,” he said. “So would we put a venue that’s gonna push out 200 decibels in close proximity to wild animals?”
If Mesker ever reopened, the city would likely have to build a giant soundwall that pushed the cacophony back into the venue and away from sensitive creatures, he said. That could cost a sizable chunk of money. And that’s on top of the millions of dollars it would take to update the 72-year-old amphitheater in every other way.
It’s a familiar refrain for Mesker, which has largely sat empty for 15 years now, ever since the Doobie Brothers cleared out after the venue’s final concert.
Beck – who oversees the city-owned venue through the zoo – walked the Courier & Press through the grounds on Feb. 8. It looked a lot like it did in 2019, the last time a reporter stepped through the gates, only even more weathered and beaten by time.