Two longtime sponsors of the

Summer Concert Series at the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater with close

connections to the Peachtree City Development Authority have withdrawn

their support for the 2004 season.

Group VI Development and Brooks

& Kaigler Family Dentistry have both indicated since Jan. 19 that

they will not be rejoining the roster of nearly 30 various corporate sponsors,

according to sources within the Peachtree City Tourism Association which

took over management of the venue on that date.

Group VI was an $8,500 gold-level

sponsor, while Brooks & Kaigler was a $5,000 silver-level sponsor.

Corporate sponsorships are

budgeted to raise $166,000 of the amphitheater's $1.3 million budget

this year.

The lead corporate sponsor

for the series, the law firm of Webb, Stuckey and Lee, has committed again

for 2004, and in fact hand-delivered its check for $25,000 to new amphitheater

office manager Lisa Marie Waslis this week, she said.

All of the other corporate

contributors to the 2004 series, the amphitheater's 10th anniversary

season, have come through on their sponsorships, Tourism Board officers

have said.

Tate Godfrey, who chaired the

Development Authority before resigning late last year, is senior vice

president of business development for Group VI, while dentist Robert Brooks

of Brooks & Kaigler is one of three members remaining on the seven-seat

Development Authority board, which has been trying to enlist new officers,

re-identify its mission and eliminate more than $1 million in debt since

giving up management of the amphitheater and Peachtree City Tennis Center

last year.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Association

board agreed Wednesday night to tentatively award the contract to operate

the pro shop within the Tennis Center to Your Serve Tennis of Norcross,

which managers similar retail outlets in four locations in Cobb, Gwinnett

and North Fulton counties.

Owner Dale Queen told the board

he felt confident he could maintain a quality retail operation -

which also serves as the registration and entryway for tennis center patrons

- pay the rent and make a profit.

While the outlet will have

a dedicated manager, Queen said that person wouldn't be available

every day and planned to utilize Tennis Center employees, as before, to

staff the pro shop during regular hours.

Board co-chair Murray Weed,

questioning Queen extensively, noted that all of the half-dozen or so

applicants who expressed interest in running the shop intended to make

use of the tennis center employees.

"That seems to be pretty

standard for the industry," Weed said.

Queen said his merchandise

would be of the same quality or improved from before, when the shop was

operated by former Tennis Center Executive Director Virgil Christian.

Queen also said he would be

using some of the fixtures already in place, but would be bringing in

more of his own as well to compliment the shop, which has sat vacant since

Dec. 1 - an unpleasant reminder, some Tennis Center members have

suggested, of the trials the facility has faced in recent months.

"My first interest is

to restoring the operation, not to my personal benefit," said Queen.

"I have an 18-year reputation in this business to maintain."

If Queen meets a couple of

conditions requested by the tourism board, the pro shop could be reopened

for business by March 1.

Also Wednesday, the board voted

to give Judi-ann Rutherford a 60-day contract to work with Waslis to get

the amphitheater season up and running while a new director is sought.

The board submitted help wanted

ads on Monday to replace Donna Romeo, who was terminated Jan. 18 from

the job. Waslis replaces Rutherford, who had to quit Jan. 2 to take a

seat on the City Council.