SOUTH PORTLAND – If all goes according to plan, big-name musical acts could be playing a new waterfront concert venue in South Portland by as early as next summer.

According to South Portland Assistant City Manager Jon Jennings, plans call for a 10,110-seat venue, to be located on land the city leases from Portland Pipe Line Corp. located between the Liberty Ship Memorial in Bug Light Park and the pipeline pier that juts into Casco Bay.

The stage, which might not arrive until mid-summer in Year 1, would otherwise be up from Memorial Day until Labor Day.

The hope is for a setup to rival Bangor’s popular Waterfront Concert Series, in terms of attracting A-list acts, while also doubling as a performance arts space for outdoor theater and school commencement exercises.

Jennings, who doubles as South Portland’s economic development director, predicts such attractions will help boost business at restaurants and shops throughout the city. More importantly, he said, the seaside ambiance of the site should help to boost South Portland’s brand as a destination location, further fueling the local economy.

“I’ve been to a lot of places and Bug Light Park is one of the most beautiful places on earth,” said Jennings, on Tuesday. “What’s remarkable is that when I talk to people who are not all that familiar with South Portland, inevitably what they know is the Maine Mall. A lot of them aren’t familiar with Bug Light Park. But staging something there can really draw people in, again and again, because it is so beautiful, and because to get there you see what a wonderful city we have, with the great neighborhoods and amazing restaurants we have.

“This is something that can have real, tangible, economic impact,” said Jennings.

In that sense, Bug Light Park has become an increasingly important part of the city’s portfolio, adding in the past year an outdoor summer movie series and the inaugural Color Run to the regular itinerary of classic car shows and kite-flying contests.

This past weekend featured the second annual Bug Light 5K Walk/Run to benefit the South Portland Land Trust and the South Portland Historical Society. Nate Priest of Yarmouth bested a field of 529 entrants, but it was the Color Run, which drew 5,000 runners this past July to raise funds for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, which was the real proof-of-concept for large-scale events on the east end.

Parking would be available in the area, in existing under-utilized lots and on a vacant lot owned by Portland Pipe Line, which can reportedly hold 1,100 cars. Given the summer season, parking also would be available at nearby Southern Maine Community College, said Jennings, while some concert-goers might choose to take a ferry from Portland to the Southern Maine Community College campus and make the short walk to the concert site.

Police Chief Ed Googins has said that, based on the Color Run experience and the late-night let-out of most concerts, traffic congestion should be manageable. The only hiccup in the plan is the current tar-sands fight.

Portland Pipe Line president Larry Wilson said Monday his company has agreed to let the city use its land for concerts, which includes cutting some trees to clear the way for the stage and seating. However, both parties have mutually agreed to put the project on the shelf until after the Nov. 5 vote on the Waterfront Projection Ordinance.

Both sides say plans should resume soon after November’s vote, regardless of the outcome.

“Of course we want to allow the public to use our property down there,” said Wilson. “Why wouldn’t we, when it’s such an amazing natural resource.”

“Frankly, they’ve got a lot on their plate right now,” said Jennings. “But then there’s also been a delay on my part as I try to come up with the actual budget for all of this. We’ve made a lot of progress on parking and traffic, but I really have to get my arms around costs and come up with hard numbers.

“But what I like about this is that we will structure some kind of deal where we will recoup all of our investment and, frankly, make some money,” said Jennings. “We’re not going to put the taxpayers at a disadvantage. We’re going to make sure it pays for itself.”

Jennings said negotiations with Portland Pipe Line have not yet progressed to dollars and cents. Now, the city gets public use of the pipeline property where the performing arts venue would be set up, as well as the part already used for Bug Light Park, in exchange for forgiveness of property taxes on those lots.

According to Jennings, the city would manage the concerts, “acting as landlord” and opening the property to promoters.

“We’re moving cautiously, because we want to make sure we don’t negatively impact the city in any way,” said Jennings. “But I can see something happening there by next summer.”

Runners in the Bug Light 5K make a dash for the finish line. The race, which begins and ends in the park, benefits the South Portland Historical Society and South Portland Land Trust. It is just one of many events that occurs at Bug Light Park, which might become the site of a concert venue.The horn sounds for the Bug Light 5K.A conceptual map for a waterfront concert venue, located on land South Portland leases from Portland Pipe Line Corp. between the Liberty Ship Memorial in Bug Light Park and the pipeline pier into Casco Bay, shows where a concert stage would be located (in orange) as well as space for roughly 10,000 seats, including 8,110 seats (in blue) and “lawn seating” (in green).