WESTPORT–Westport is slated to replace the stage at the Levitt Pavilion 12 years after an overhaul transformed the outdoor venue. The Representative Town Meeting approved $124,000 for the capital project on Tuesday. Director of Public Works Peter Ratkiewich told the RTM that rain has seeped through the stage’s ripped vinyl surface, rotting the plywood underneath it.

“Attempted repairs to the surface have been unsuccessful,” Ratkiewich said. “There are numerous tripping hazards.”

The work is scheduled to begin this month and to be completed by June, according to the department’s memo supporting the request for the funds. The popular venue offers more than 50 free shows each year, plus paid events, drawing more than 75,000 audience members, according to its website.

Approval for the new stage came with a 33-2 vote from the RTM after a discussion about whether the project was the responsibility of the town, which owns the venue, or the Friends of the Levitt Pavilion, which operates it.

“This is a structural element of the facility,” said RTM member Seth Braunstein. “I think it’s quite clear that we need to approve this expenditure.”

RTM members Kristin Schneeman and Peter Gold opposed the expense. Both praised the venue as an asset to the community, but argued that cost of the work should be borne by the organization, which is responsible for maintenance and repairs under the lease agreement with the town.

“It’s something that the Friends of the Levitt could have foreseen and could have fundraised for over time,” Gold said.

Ratkiewich said the replacement was a capital project, more extensive than a repair job. 

“This is not maintenance. This is not repairs,” he said. “The Levitt has done a good job of repairing the stage as many times as they can. But now we’re at the point where that rip has gotten too big and (the stage) needs to be replaced.”

Assistant Town Attorney Eileen Lavigne advised that the town bears responsibility for the work. Since the lease agreement does not require the Levitt organization to cover capital projects along with maintenance and repairs, that responsibility falls with the venue’s owner – the town – even if that is not explicitly stated, she said.

Gold said that future agreements the town enters into should be clearer on such points.

The stage was part of a $9.5 million renovation that upgraded the Levitt Pavilion in 2013 and 2014, with a new sound system and lights, its soaring roof, a sloped lawn, hospitality building and part of the RiverWalk along the Saugatuck River.

Carleigh Welsh, vice president and executive producer for the Levitt, said the organization spends “an extraordinary amount of money, as we should under the license agreement, to undertake all of the maintenance and repairs that we are obligated to do year over year to maintain the site beautifully and safely.”

RTM member Ellen Lautenberg asked if the new stage would be more durable than the damaged one.

“Maybe in making these repairs, it needs to have something that’s going to be more resilient to wear and tear, because it seems like this is just going to continue,” she said.

The department memo before the RTM estimated that the new stage would last 15 years.

Ratkiewich did not return emails or phone calls from the Westport Journal seeking further information.