Riverside Area Community Club receives grant of $34,312 at Washington County Riverboat Foundation ceremony December 6. Photo by Sam McIntosh.

Riverside residents won’t have to travel far for free entertainment this summer as the Riverside Area Community Club (RACC) plans to have a summer concert series.

The idea began last summer as RACC incorporated more live bands at its annual Trekfest, and they realized the acoustics of the Hall Park stage weren’t conducive for concerts.

RACC received a $34,312 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation for Hall Park improvements including soundproofing of the stage, park electrical upgrades, and beautification. Trekfest Executive Director Kevin Meller says this will allow Trekfest to grow and for Riverside to have additional community events such as a concert and movie series, “Having things going on in the town that kind of showcase the town, it’s a great place to live we’ve got a great parks system, we’ve got just wonderful things going on. I think this will help showcase that. And then it’s just always wonderful to have free or very low-cost entertainment in town so families don’t have to spend a lot of money to go up to Iowa City, they can just stay, walk down to the park, and have a good time.”

RACC hopes to complete the improvements in April, which includes installing permanent speakers and more direct electrical circuits to help with Trekfest activities like the pancake breakfast and bouncy houses.