In May, CEO and co-founder of the Rooftop Concert Series Sarah Wiley wrote a letter explaining this year will be the series’ 10th and final season. One of the reasons the concert series was originally organized, Wiley wrote, was “as an effort to help revitalize Downtown Provo through the arts.”

According to Wiley, the concert series “long surpassed” that original goal, playing a “big part in drawing people downtown, changing the perception and reputation, and contributing to the climate that ultimately we have today — a vibrant, inspiring economic and cultural hub of the city.”

Dixon Holmes, division director of economic development for Provo, agrees.

“There’s no doubt that Rooftop played an important role in exposing people to, or making them aware of, what else was in the downtown,” Holmes said.

In addition to exposing people to Provo’s vibrant music scene, Holmes said, it also brought people downtown to see what retailers and restaurants have to offer. Similarly, Quinn Peterson, director of Downtown Provo Inc., said the concert series didn’t necessarily make downtown Provo a cool place to be — it reminded people it already was cool.

“They didn’t create anything outstanding that didn’t exist before because the bands that played were Provo bands, and the people that went to the shows were here in Provo, and the people who organized the shows were here in Provo,” Peterson said. “I think that the objective was to remind people that downtown is a neat place.”

When people came for the concerts, Peterson said, they would also be exposed to shops and restaurants they maybe hadn’t noticed before. When the concert series first started, Peterson was running Unhinged, a boutique on Center Street offering “eclectic” clothes, gifts and accessories. On the nights of the concerts, the store would just stay open later. Peterson also worked with the barbershop on the second floor, which would take walk-ins on the night of the concerts, the only time they do so. Later, Peterson said Unhinged and the barber shop would work with a local sandwich shop to take orders from people waiting in line for haircuts, and even hired entertainment on occasion, such as a magician or a tarot card reader. Those Friday nights during the concert series were the most lucrative than any other time of the year, Peterson said.

“Those nights became extremely important for our financial bottom line,” he said.

Silvia Martinez, owner of Bianca’s La Petite French Bakery on Center Street, also benefited from the concert series. She moved her bakery to Provo five years ago, when she felt the downtown area was improving, which she believes is, in part, because of the concert series. Now that the concert series is ending, she’s worried about the financial impact it will have on her business.

“I know that we’re not going to get that help (from the concerts),” she said. “It’s going to hurt.”

However, not all business owners are sad to see the series go. Ted Schofield, the owner of Heindselman’s Yarn, Needlework, and Gifts on Center Street, has never liked the concert series and said it’s negatively affected his business to have that section of street closed. After staying open during the concerts for the first two years of the series, Schofield decided to just close early on those days because all they got were people wanting to use the bathroom, and not customers.

“I’m all for doing things that improve Provo’s image, but we have a couple of problems,” Schofield said. “It just seems like Provo is trying to make downtown a happening place … I don’t think they’re going about it the right way.”

One of the programs that may grow to take the place of the Rooftop Concert Series is “First Fridays.” The first Friday of every month for the past two years or so, different retailers and restaurants along Provo Center Street have opened their doors to display works by local artists. Schofield thinks it’s a much better program.

“I think that’s the kind of thing we need,” he said.

Peterson said there are lots of things starting to expand these “First Fridays” beyond the Art Stroll. For example, on June 7, after the music from the concert stopped, people could view a free film screening at Velour. The film screenings will continue for the next three months, Peterson said, until September when the FilmQuest film festival starts, as well as music festivals like Buzzards and Bees in October.

“We’ve been having a lot of conversations internally about taking some of this energy and momentum from Rooftop and where it will end up next year,” Peterson said. “Some of those conversations are about the art stroll … (but) there’s a lot more than we can do besides just fine art … we hope to grow the First Friday to being a lot more than just the art stroll.”

Peterson, for one, isn’t concerned with moving on from the concert series, because of the direction “First Fridays” are going, and growing from the art stroll to adding film screenings and whatever else comes their way.

“Our art stroll is bringing between 2- and 4,000 people downtown every First Friday already,” Peterson said. “We’re not concerned about what’s next because we feel like the energy and the talent and the support is already here.”

Holmes also looks forward to what might take place of the concert series. Maybe it will be another concert series, he said, or something else. At the end of the day, he said, the downtown area is never completely “done.”

“There’s always something new. Businesses come and go, and good economies and bad economies. And there’s just always something new happening,” Holmes said. He also spoke highly of the First Friday program, and the art stroll, and said he could see it as a replacement. “That’s kind of the exciting or fun part, is to see where that goes, and I think the city is open and willing to explore any of those options as people step forward and say, ‘hey, this is what we want to do.'”