GULF SHORES, Ala. - AIG Baker, doing business as The Wharf, and facing a slump in real estate and loss of store renters, thinks that it should have a larger percentage of revenue generated by out-of-town visitors.

  The company argues that it should get more money from its  special events, which produce revenue in lodging and retail sales.

  On Tuesday the company asked the Orange Beach City Council  to extend the extant revenue-sharing agreement to include a rebate of a dollar-plus  per head per day from out-of-towners using The Wharf’s facilities.

  These funds would come out of the sales and lodging taxes generated by The Wharf’s attraction of the outsiders.

 This proposed deal would’ve come in handy Saturday, March 1. In the twilight, a thousand autos popped their lights over the bridge at the toll booth and a continuous stream from east and west on Canal Road made the approach a three-directional event.

  Visitors were coming to hear country singer Alan Jackson present his popular wares. Parking attendants in luminous vests and swinging red-flared lights were busy.

  Tim and Linda Daniel of Tuscaloosa were among the thousands coming to the event but also acquainting themselves with the shops and eateries available to the public. They told the writer that they were impressed by the site and the experience.

  Amphitheatre director Peter Bryan said that since the first of the year there have been several of these events bringing thousands of visitors. Bryan said that the New Year’s street event was a miniature of Times  Square.

  Other events since Jan. 1 have been equally attended and appreciated, Bryan said. The Cheerleaders Competition event, The younger generation’s pop music group “Three Days Grace,” and the Christmas Holidays atmosphere were well-attended, Bryan said.

  In April the Ken Stabler fish and golf tournaments dubbed XOXO is expected to draw thousands of visitors, many of whom have never been to Wharf, Bryan said.

  The Orange Beach City Council may require several meetings for this Part Two of the partnership and if acceptable the details of head-counts and confirmations have to be labored over by accounting wizards. The promise of The Wharf (AIG Baker) to put this money into building accesses, parking and boardwalks is the bait to attract the business-minded.