News Photo by Steve Schulwitz This is a photo of grandstands at the Alpena County Fairgrounds.

ALPENA — Blackwaters NE leadership says that the 65,000 event attendee estimate floating around Alpena for the Blackwater on the Water entertainment complex is inaccurate despite claims made during public comment at Alpena County board meetings and on social media.

Blackwater NE CEO Mike Romanowski said that he is unsure where the 65,000 attendee estimate came from as that was never part of the Blackwaters NE proposal. He said that it likely came from a study the company did to estimate how many residents live in a 100-mile radius of Alpena, which totalled 65,000 to 70,000.

“It’s way off, we never even said anything close to that,” Romanowski added. “I think they made it up.”

At the Alpena County Board of Commissioners full-board meeting on April 28, Alpena Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) President Mary Beth Stutzman gave public comment and cited an attendee estimate that she claimed Blackwaters NE leadership intended to bring to Alpena for concerts and other events.

“This proposal suggests bringing in up to half to 65,000 people at once,” she said. “This is not incremental growth.

“This is a population larger than our entire county,” she added, “without demonstrated infrastructure capacity or proven market demand, lodging alone presents clear constraint.”

Stutzman’s claim suggests that the entertainment complex would house as many visitors as Ford Field in Detroit. For a football game, Ford Field’s capacity can support 65,000 attendees, whereas the venue can be expanded to 70,000 for other major events such as concerts.

The News reached out to Stutzman for comment.

At the county’s special meeting on April 17, Blackwaters NE leadership presented the company’s proposal with estimates as to how many attendees they anticipated to visit for events and what the lodging capacity is for Alpena County.

Songwriters Fest, an event that was proposed for late summer of this year, was estimated to bring in between 7,000 to 20,000 people to the area with an estimated economic impact of $900,000 to $2 million, Blackwaters said in its presentation.

Little Caesars Arena in Detroit seats about 20,000 people for a Red Wings hockey game and about 1,000 more than that for a concert when the arena’s floor is utilized for general admission seating.

Rodeos for the 2026 and 2027 event circuit was estimated to bring in 5,000 to 10,000 attendees on average and was expected to be broadcast globally. The estimated income impact for the area was expected to be around $300,000 and $1.2 million.

Romanowski said that his company did a study on lodging opportunities which was presented at the April 17 meeting. The “Alpena vicinity,” which included 60,000 to 75,000 residents, included 195 locations for lodging which had the capacity to serve 6,200 guests.

Average event attendance included the following:

– Large concerts: 4,000 to 6,000 attendees

– Small concerts: under 1,500 attendees

– Festivals: 10,000 plus attendees (which included music and sports)

Number of events per year included the following:

– Large concerts: eight to 10

– Small concerts: 15 to 20

– Special events: two to four

– Festivals: two to four

– Community events: six to eight

The News reached out to Alpena County Fair Board President Courtney Tauriainen and Alpena County Fair Board Treasurer Cindy Krentz for comment and to receive estimates as to how many attendees the Alpena County Fair Society brings during the annual fair week. Board members did not respond within The News’ print deadline.

The News also reached out to administrators from the Friends of the Alpena County Fairgrounds Facebook page which shared an infographic that included the 65,000 statistic, for comment. They did not provide information regarding this infographic or comment prior to the print deadline.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.