The rising St. Croix River is forcing Lumberjack Days, Stillwater’s popular summer festival, to move inland this year – 400 feet, to be precise.
Festival organizers said Monday that the concert stage would be in a parking lot near the corner of Water and Mulberry streets.
Dave Eckberg of St. Croix Events said this marks the first time in the 21 years he has run the event that flooding forced a move.
“The dilemma we’ve got is this: The river is about 1-1/2 feet higher than we can handle,” he said.
Fortunately, Eckberg said, the festival’s floating stage had already been nixed.
“We basically have outgrown the barge,” he said last month. “We were within 6 inches last year of not being able to get Chicago on it.”
But plans for the Andiamo Empress riverboat to dock near the stage for VIP seating now have also been scrapped. Eckberg said he is working on a plan for a VIP area next to the stage.
The move inland will affect only the events that occur on the north end of Lowell Park, Eckberg said. The south end of the park, where family activities are held, is not affected by the high water.
Meanwhile, Eckberg and Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton disagree about whether the festival needs to pay for services of the county’s water patrol.
Hutton said Eckberg should have deposited $3,700 for patrol duty in an escrow account by July 5. It had not been paid as of Monday, he said.
“We have public safety concerns,” Hutton said. “Obviously, Lumberjack Days draws a significant crowd – not only in downtown Stillwater, but also … there are lots of folks who listen to the bands on the river. We have to make sure there is a channel open north of the Lift Bridge in case of emergency.”
Eckberg said that because Lumberjack Days will not use a floating stage this year, he did not need to get a water-surface use permit from the county and thought the water patrol was unnecessary.
“We’re planning to talk about it,” Eckberg said. “We’ve never been one to not reimburse public safety. We have a longstanding good relationship with all the local public safety, and we expect to maintain that.”
However, Eckberg has repeatedly been criticized for delays in paying bills associated with the Stillwater Marathon and Lumberjack Days. Before last year’s Lumberjack Days, Eckberg said the loss of sponsors and the poor economy hurt the festival business.
Hutton said that if the money were not paid, the sheriff’s office would bill the city of Stillwater.
Mayor Ken Harycki said Monday that he would encourage both parties “to sit down and communicate and get it resolved.”
For more information, go to lumberjackdays.com.
Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443.
IF YOU GO
Lumberjack Days will run Thursday through Sunday. Admission is free, but tickets are $10 for the Friday and Saturday night music shows. Collective Soul will play on Friday; Smash Mouth and the Gear Daddies perform Saturday.
The first clue for the festival’s treasure hunt will be read at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday during a kickoff party at the Washington County Historic Courthouse. To collect the full $1,000 prize in the treasure hunt, the finder must wear a Lumberjack Days button. Buttons are $3.
Copyright 2011 Pioneer Press.