For 40 years, Howard Schnoll has been the man behind the scenes of Milwaukee's biggest party. As a member of the Summerfest Board of Directors since the event's inception in 1968, Schnoll -- who is currently the board's chairman -- has seen it morph from a scattered and struggling event to a tradition unmatched in the city.

This Summerfest will be his last as chairman; he will step down from his position next February. OnMilwaukee.com sat down with Schnoll in his Downtown Milwaukee office to talk about where Summerfest started, where it is and what lies in store for the future.

OMC: Mayor Henry Maier got the idea for Summerfest after a trip to Munich's famous Oktoberfest. What was his charge when he got the ball rolling for Summerfest?

Schnoll: His charge was to have an event that was affordable for the people of Milwaukee. He said that there were a lot of people who don't have the cottages up north or the lake houses or lots of things to do in the summer. Most people can't afford country clubs and needed a form of affordable entertainment. He wanted us to make it somewhat on the basis of what Oktoberfest did. If you look at it today, I think we've accomplished that. The amount of talent we have for that ten-day period and the price people pay to get in ($15). Then, with all the free deals … if people really look, they can get in free every day. When you look at the amount of entertainment available, no question it is the most affordable venue in the country. And it is the World's Largest Music Festival. From that standpoint, I think we've accomplished what Mayor Maier wanted us to do.

OMC: The first Summerfest was held at different locations at different times over its first year, and it was in pretty deep financial trouble early on.

HS: It was actually after the second year that we got into trouble. That year, we were only doing it on one weekend. We were doing some things at the lakefront that year and it rained every day of that weekend. After the second year, we were $600,000 in debt and in pretty deep trouble. We had no way to pay it, for all practical purposes. John Kelley was very active at the time; he was the owner of Midland Bank. The Mayor went to John and he got us an unsecured $250,000 loan which was almost impossible to do. The other thing we did was make an agreement with Gooding's Million Dollar Midway. We got them to prepay three years' of rent for a three-year contract. That put us back on our feet.

OMC: The old Main Stage provided a lot of great memories, but it was the Amphitheater that kind of saved Summerfest and brought it into the modern era, wasn't it?

HS: No question about it. With that, we can book any size act today in the Amphitheater. And we still try to have as many free seats as we can, and if we cant have free seats we try to keep the lawn seats as affordable as possible. It's one of those things that falls into our main goal; keeping everything affordable.

OMC: A lot has been made in recent years about Summerfest's finances. How strong is the festival in terms of revenue?

HS: Today, from a financial standpoint, we've done a great job of building up reserves. We have about $9 million available for our capital reserve and we have about $5 million available for our operating reserve.

OMC: That operating reserve can be a life-saver, so-to-speak, given the unpredictable nature of weather around Milwaukee.

HS: That's key. If we really have a bad rainout, we could have been in big trouble. Now we think we could really weather one terrible year. We've always been able to get through a couple of days of bad weather, but we think we're in good shape if there is really just a terrible, terrible year. A total rainout could be disastrous because we spend our money all out ahead of time.

OMC: You've been fortunate; aside from the early years there really hasn't been a year where the weather is just devastating.

HS: We've had a few bad days in the past. But you come through those and Milwaukeeans are pretty tolerant. They can handle some rain.

OMC: What's next in terms of building on the grounds? The south end has been a spot without much to do for years. Is there a plan in place for the next phase of upgrades?

HS: The park requires continual repair and maintenance. Our goal is to make it as clean and as neat as Disney World. There need to be things done to do that, there is past repair to work on. Some stages are getting older; we need some sponsors to step forward and do what Miller Brewing did. We need to improve those stages; either by getting the sponsors to make the contributions or find somebody else if they can't. The whole south end needs to be re-evaluated totally. In terms of the location of the gates, probably another stage will be down there. We have a group that will be meeting soon and we hope to have something done by 2010.

OMC: People, a lot of times, think of Summerfest just as something to do for a week or so come July. But it really does a lot -- not just by putting the city on the map -- but does a lot for the economy, too.

HS: Our economic impact is tremendous. We hope to do a study this year to find out exactly what it really is because I really believe it's a lot higher than most people think. I know one of the kids that was coming to perform (a member of June 30 headliner, The Fray), and he couldn't find a hotel room. It was almost impossible, which is a good sign for us!

OMC: How do you respond to people who Summerfest is paying too much attention to drawing the Downtown condo crowd as opposed to the general population?

HS: I would disagree with that. We've got the people who grew up here when they were younger and aren't coming back. That's the group we're trying to target. We want to get those people to come back. True, those people (who live in the Downtown, Third Ward, East Side neighborhoods) may have more money to spend, but it doesn't mean that we're not trying to get everybody. We're trying to bring back those who haven't come back in recent years. I think we're doing a good job, but we're not trying to stop anybody else from coming. We're not changing our plan; the talent represents every type of person. It's not like we're having the symphony every night.

OMC: Personally, I think having the Milwaukee Symphony playing a show during Summerfest would be a great event for one night.

HS: We tried that a couple years ago. It was a problem, but it doesn't mean we won't work on it or try it again. There are a couple things that are a part of our long-range planning in terms of using the grounds more. We'll figure out ways to do that.

OMC: How has Don Smiley made an impact on Summerfest? He's heading into his third year at the helm.

HS: We renewed his contract starting next January for another four years. He's here, he's settled in now and he really knows what's going on. He's a bright guy and he'll come up with some good ideas of what we need to do next. I think that one of Don's major goals has been to get us national attention, and I think he's done that. I think with Country Music Television he's done that. They're coming back for a second year to tape concerts for their network and that's great for the City of Milwaukee. The other thing he suggested, which we're now doing, is calling it "Milwaukee Summerfest." That, too, is great for the city.

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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by david_st on June 21, 2007 at 12:35 p.m. (report)

Last time I checked there was 11 days of Summerfest, buddy!!

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