Tarlton Theatre plans to turn vacant lot into Green Bay's first food truck park, beginning with free concerts there this summer
GREEN BAY - The vacant grassy lot next to The Tarlton Theatre is getting new life this summer with a free concert series that will serve as the first step toward turning the space into a food truck park in time for the 2025 NFL draft.
Beginning at 6 p.m. June 20 and continuing Thursdays through Sept. 12, music lovers can enjoy a lineup of touring artists that includes well-known names like Ha Ha Tonka and The Supersuckers. Presented by The Tarlton, which owns the lot at 409 W. Walnut St., and Green Bay music promoter Tom Johnson, the In the Yard series will also include a craft beer tent and food trucks.
The all-ages concerts will serve as a proof of concept during the first phase of development for what is eventually to become The Truck Yard at The Tarlton, a place where permanent food truck pads with electrical hookups and water would allow four to six trucks to set up, not just for a special event, but with regular hours throughout the week.
“In visiting a number of other great cities across the country, we realized that Green Bay is lacking a permanent space and destination park for food trucks,” said Tarl Knight, owner of The Tarlton Theatre. “So here’s a great outdoor option and an extension of the Tarlton that we’ll be able to bring to the downtown during the summer when the Tarlton isn’t always as busy, because people want to be outside enjoying the weather, drinking beer with their friends and enjoying live music while they can.”
The Tarlton has been exploring options with the city since May 2023 for how to best develop the corner lot that’s roughly 120 feet wide along Walnut and 90 feet deep, Knight said. It’s currently used for parking for theater events.
Shipping container bar also part of The Truck Yard at The Tarlton plans
The Truck Yard would host an eclectic variety of cuisines and would likely be a mix of mainstay trucks and others that rotate in and out, Knight said. The idea is to provide them with the amenities they don't always find at other sites and to help promote them as small businesses.
“The end game for a lot of food trucks is a brick-and-mortar restaurant, and on their way to that, we want to make sure we’re giving them the space that they need to grow and work with us," Knight said.
Tentative plans for The Truck Yard also include a shipping container bar with a canopied area up top that looks out on the acts onstage, a large covered stage with full audio and visual amenities similar to the theater, portable heaters, lawn furniture and outdoor lighting.
Knight envisions the park offering live music on Wednesdays during the Farmers Market on Broadway season or maybe hosting a flea market on Fridays. It will also allow The Tarlton to expand some of its indoor arts and culture offerings outside and try new programming, Knight said, including possibly an electronic bass music concert or drag and burlesque shows. The historic theater already has partnerships with The Weidner, Green Bay Jazz Orchestra and the Green Bay Film Festival that brings some of their programming to the venue.
“There’s a lot of opportunity here,” Knight said. “This is a big, green canvas, a blank canvas but it’s green, and we get to create something really fun.”
Getting there means first successfully completing this summer’s In the Yard series, which is the experimental portion of the project in partnership with the city. The second phase of creating a full-blown permanent park, including the necessary zoning and Green Bay City Council approval, will begin in September.
Knight hopes to have it completed in time for the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay, an event expected to bring 250,000 visitors to the city April 24-26. The park would not only dramatically change a piece of property that in some ways serves as an entrance to downtown for people coming from Ashland Avenue to Walnut, Knight said, but also show out-of-town guests that Green Bay is culturally advanced.
“We want to create a destination park that isn’t the size or the scope of let’s say the Titletown destination by Lambeau Field but something the downtown can call a destination area,” Knight said.
In the Yard concert series
Free concerts begin at 6 p.m. Thursdays in the grassy lot next to The Tarlton Theatre. No carry-ins; food and drink sold on site. Bring a lawn chair. Rain location is the theater.
June 20: Joseph Huber
June 27: The Supersuckers, with The Rumours
July 4: Ha Ha Tonka, with Hang Ten
July 11: Dig Deep, with Phyl Wickham
July 18: Flatfoot 56, with Decent Criminal
July 25: Aage Birch
Aug. 1: 20 Watt Tombstone, with Sweetalk
Aug. 8: Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy, with Hemlock Chaser
Aug. 15: Low Water Bridge Band
Aug. 22: 4onthefloor
Aug. 29: IV & The Strange Band, with Mikey Classic & His Lonesome Spur
Sept. 5: Green Bay Jazz Orchestra
Sept. 12: Los Shadows
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Tarlton Theatre unveils plans for Green Bay's first food truck park
