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Top of the Park Relocation Campaign
Click here to download the Campaign brochure.
Top of the Park is moving. Forward.
In 2006, Top of the Park moved, due to a two-year rehabilitation project to its longtime home at the Fletcher Street Parking Structure. Its temporary new location is beautiful Ingalls Mall, located directly in front of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies on Washington Street near the Burton Memorial Tower.
If you have ever moved, you know that while it is very exciting, it can be quite expensive. Last year, additional operating costs for Top of the Park amounted to $40,000. and a similar amount is anticipated again this year.
Therefore, the Festival is making a special appeal to you as part of a relocation campaign for Top of the Park. We will not be able to make this move alone; your financial support is needed to help us achieve our vision.
THE EVENT
Top of the Park is the annual outdoor music and movie series produced by the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. Focusing primarily on local and regional artists, the admission-free event is the perfect complement to the national and international scope of its parent festival. For 24 days, Top of the Park transforms Ann Arbor into an exhilarating celebration of performing arts, outdoor entertainment and community spirit.
THE VISIONTo protect Top of the Park’s unique character, the Festival worked with landscape architect firm JJR to design a relocation strategy for the event. The plan was developed through a series of discussions with the University of Michigan, the City of Ann Arbor, and the Festival’s Board of Trustees and staff.
The planning team chose Ingalls Mall for the new location because of its close proximity to the Festival’s indoor activities along with its true park-like setting. It has more grass, more trees, and offers more opportunities to enjoy summer. In addition, the new site gives Top of the Park events a more central location with multiple entry points, creating more aggregate space.
The relocation design preserves the energy and spirit of Top of the Park while creating a safe, comfortable environment for visitors. The Festival expects more people, more mingling, and the ability for families to bring blankets and to listen to music and watch movies under the stars, right in the middle of campus.
THE GOAL
The goal for the second year of this fund raising effort is $40,000, which is estimated to help cover the additional costs associated with the move. Additional expenses include an inflatable movie screen, portable generators, additional labor, more security and other production costs. The relocation campaign will extend through May 15, 2007.
THE BENEFITS
Donors enjoy a variety of benefits based on their level of giving, including signage and program recognition, a special donor tent party during the 2007 season, a custom lapel pin to signify your support, a logo embossed seat cushion, and other perks to ba announced at a later date. For more information or to discuss a gift, please contact Development Director, Astrid Giese at agiese@umich.edu or (734) 994-5999.
PLANNING TEAM
Festival Board of Trustees & Staff
JJR, LLC.
One of the nation’s leading landscape architects and environmental planners, JJR has long been at the forefront of urban design, civil engineering and environmental science. The company’s mission is to respond to human needs and create special places while working with natural processes and protecting the environment.
The Community Throughout the planning process, the Festival held numerous meetings with the University of Michigan, the City of Ann Arbor and other important agencies and organizations that provided crucial feedback on priorities for the relocation. We are grateful for their participation and valuable input on this project.
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