Concessions in parks and public spaces come with a multitude of benefits for both park users and operators. For users, they offer a bite, drink, or service that enhances their experience; boost foot traffic and public safety; and, often, offer a much-needed amenity, like a public restroom. For park operators, on the other hand, concession activities are accompanied by a steady, albeit modest, stream of revenue to support maintenance and programming in uncertain financial times.
This panel brings together park leaders from Raleigh, NC, Brooklyn, NY, Detroit, MI, and Boston, MA, each with innovative concessions in the spaces they steward. Panelists will detail the unique approaches taken to maximizing the benefits of concessions—all while confronting the real-world challenges that come with regular operation in a public setting. They’ll also discuss the funding mechanisms that make the concessions work for both the park-goer and park itself.
Participants will leave with a broader sense of what concession could offer to the parks or public spaces they operate, and a toolkit for developing revenue-sharing arrangements that work best for specific systems, based on scale and governance. Attendees will learn about flexible setups, fostering relationships with the private sector, shared responsibilities of stewardship, and revenue-share options for a variety of settings and types of concessions.