The Three Rivers Arts Festival, one of the city's most popular events, could be driven out of Point State Park, which is undergoing a major face-lift and due to reopen next summer.

New guidelines are being developed for the use of the state-owned park and unless those guidelines are revised, the festival "will most likely not be able to operate in Point State Park," said Elizabeth Reiss, the arts festival's executive director.

Restrictions involving set-up and take-down times, how long a stage can stay up, and the use of tractor trailers and heavy equipment in the park would severely impact the event's ability to operate and generate revenue, she said.

"This current situation feels very much like an eviction and if left unchanged will hurt the festival, our public, and, ultimately, the city," she added.

But John W. Norbeck, director of state parks for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said the intent is not to exclude the arts festival or other large events like the Three Rivers Regatta and the Dollar Bank Jamboree from the park.

He said the state plans to meet with those users next week to discuss the guidelines and their concerns. He said there may be opportunities to "tweak" the regulations before they are finalized.

The guidelines are being developed in conjunction with the $35 million renovation of the park, which is expected to reopen to the public in June.

"I think we can allay their fears once we have an opportunity to talk to them about the guidelines," Mr. Norbeck said. "We want these folks to come back. We think they're an integral part of the park. But we need to protect our investment."

The state, he said, is aware that one of the guidelines calling for a minimum of four weeks between large events, including set-up and take down times, could interfere with timetables for the arts festival, which runs well into June, and the regatta, which typically starts around July 4.

Mr. Norbeck said that won't be a problem. Both will be permitted "to operate as they have in the past," he said.

The guidelines were crafted by a working group made up of representatives from the DCNR, the city and the Riverlife Task Force.

In a summary accompanying the draft, Mr. Norbeck acknowledged that some of the changes could require large users like the arts festival "to alter the way they have operated in the past."

"However, it is our firm belief that we have designed and constructed a world class urban park that will serve the community for many years to come and there is a need to manage it as such," he said.

The guidelines, he said, were in line with those used in places like New York's Central Park, Philadelphia's Fairmount Park and Boston Commons.

Although Ms. Reiss cited the four-week waiting period between large events as one of her concerns, it was by no means the only one.

She said another is that the guidelines do not allow a stage to be set up for more than two weeks. Given that the arts festival runs three weeks, that would involve shortening it, she said.

The guidelines also prohibit tractor trailers and other heavy equipment in the park.

Ms. Reiss said the ban could have major implications for the festival. In the past, many event sponsors have parked tractor trailers or large trucks on concrete in the park for promotional purposes.

That no longer will be possible, she said.

The ban on heavy equipment, she said, could affect the ability to install pavilions, sculptures and scaffolding.

In addition, for the first time, large users like the arts festival will be required to pay a refundable $25,000 security deposit. Other fees could run as much as $10,000, as opposed to $1,000 in the past, she said. Together, they could make it too expensive to use the park, she said.

Nonetheless, Ms. Reiss was hopeful that next week's meeting could help resolve some of the issues. She said the arts festival wants to remain Downtown and in the park.

Another group unhappy with the guidelines is U.S. Events and Marketing, which has produced the regatta for the last seven years.

John Renda, corporate counsel for the agency, said it decided not to pursue a new management agreement with the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta Inc. board because it doesn't think the event "can get back into the park."

"What's been done to the park will make it thoroughly unusable for anything but a small gathering of people," he said.

Mr. Norbeck said there is flexibility on issues like how long the stage is up.

While fees are designed to generate revenue to maintain the property, the final cost is "something to be negotiated between the department" and the group hosting the event.

Tractor trailers and heavy equipment are a different matter. Mr. Norbeck said both have damaged walkways within the park in the past. The new pathways will be lined with bluestone and could crack under heavy equipment, he said.

But overall, park improvements, far from excluding big events like the arts festival, should make it more inviting for them, he said. There will be new water and electric hook-ups for vendors, more lawn space and greater accessibility, he said.

"I know that they, like us, are going to have to change the way they operate down there," Mr. Norbeck said. "But I really think they are going to have a much better venue than they have had in the past. It's going to be a dynamite facility."

A Dollar Bank spokesman said the proposed guidelines were still being reviewed.

Because of the renovation work, the arts festival and the regatta were forced out of the park this past summer.

One of the most notable features of the renovation called for filling in the 8-foot-deep trench surrounding the park's reconstructed Music Bastion to create a level lawn and make that section of the park more usable for festivals and events.

Among other improvements are new pipes and pumps for the fountain, a seating area around the fountain; a restored promenade along the rivers with steps into the rivers; rest room renovations, and wireless Internet access.