Big plans for this popular Tri-Cities summer concert spot on Clover Island
The Clover Island Inn’s outdoor concerts are popular with the hundreds of fans who gather in the shadow of the cable bridge to hear bands like Sawyer Brown, Night Ranger and Quiet Riot on steamy summer nights.
But the stage fashioned from a pair of flatbed trailers supplied by Lampson International isn’t so popular with performers.
Now, the inn’s managers and the Port of Kennewick are considering spending $385,000 to buy a professional, covered stage to attract top-flight performers and more visitors to the island.
Mark Blotz, general manager, said the stage will be a significant upgrade for the dozen or more concerts it holds between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year.
Once ordered, it will take about 18 months to secure the new portable stage, so it won’t be in place until 2024.
That means the 2023 season will proceed much the way it has since 2005, when the first concert was held with musicians working without protection from the sun and the elements. The 2023 concert schedule is being finalized now and includes the only Washington performance for Sawyer Brown, in August.
Blotz said some touring acts simply won’t perform without a cover over the stage.
When Night Ranger performed in 2017, the inn had to borrow a stage from Yakima. The popular touring act has sold more than 17 million albums and has the clout to set its working conditions.
Note to Night Ranger fans: Its 2023 schedule includes an Oct. 8 performance at the Umatilla, Ore., Rock the Locks Festival.
Discussions ongoing
Clover Island Inn, 435 N. Clover Island, Drive, is a privately owned, 150-room hotel constructed in 1977 on land it leases from the port.
Blotz said he’s been discussing upgrading the stage and parking lot with the port for several years.
The port has a $500,000 budget for equipment for Clover Island and has selected a portable stage measuring 32 feet by 24 feet and able to withstand strong winds if the walls are removed.
Commissioners reviewed the request during a Feb. 14 meeting and indicated they would support the investment.
Tim Arntzen, the port’s executive director, said a proper stage will provide a professional setting for performers and fans.
Since it’s portable, it can be packed away during winter or when the island is crowded during special events, such as an annual gathering of marine deputies.
The port has spent years fashioning the 16-acre island into a waterfront destination.
It built the iconic lighthouse in 2010 and is currently wrapping up a joint venture with the U.S. Army Corps, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and local government agencies to stabilize the shoreline and extend the river walk.
Concerts began in 2005
Clover Island Inn held its first concert in 2005, shortly after Blotz joined the hotel as its manager.
He said Les Brown, who managed what was then the Hanford House hotel in Richland, suggested organizing concerts in a parking area on the inn’s east side, which faces the cable bridge.
Blotz was dubious. The hotel was losing money and that was his main focus.
But he agreed live music would be fun.
The first concert, Firefall, was held in 2005. The timing was terrible.
A dust storm ripped through the community. The cable bridge disappeared in the haze. Still, people came. Organizers knew they were onto something that resonated with Tri-Citians who were hungry for live music.
“The idea was to have fun, bring people to the island so they could see what is here,” he said. In time, it became a staple of the Tri-Cities summer calendar..
“It’s kind of got its own wheels,” he said. “We’ve been doing this on two Lampson flatbed trailers.”
For the record, the trailer/stage is safe for performers. It is stable, has skirts to obscure the wheels and carpet for comfort, he said.
Blotz said a professional stage could increase the number and types of events the island hosts.
Good for business
The inn holds 12-15 concerts per year. Its free Thunder on the Island series offers live music on Wednesday evenings from late May to early September.
Its Sunday concerts feature national acts, with tickets priced between $25 and $40..
Ticket sales don’t generate much revenue. But the heightened traffic drives food and beverage sales and fills the inn’s rooms throughout the summer..
Sawyer Brown is one of the biggest acts on its calendar and typically brings in 1,500-1,600 people. The band performs Aug. 6, its fifth appearance in Kennewick.
Clover Island is too small to accommodate that many vehicles. The inn steers attendees to parking off the island on South Washington Street. It hires the Kiwanis Club’s J&S Dreamland Express “train” to ferry them to the concert venue.
Other upgrades
The stage isn’t the only upgrade for the Clover Island Inn. The hotel’s fourth-floor rooms are being modernized through an in-house effort that will extend to the full hotel if the ownership group led by Bill Lampson agrees.
It is also investing more than $200,000 in new rooftop air conditioning units and more.
The hotel’s future was cast in doubt a year ago when Portland-based Fortify Holdings considered purchasing it to convert rooms into micro-apartments.
The deal fell apart when the port commission said it would not sell the land the hotel sits on. Blotz said the hotel is continually updated, even if it isn’t always obvious to the public.
“If you don’t stay here, you won’t see it,” he said.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 12:37 PM.