More than 100 backers helped Wilmington Downtown Inc. reach a fundraising goal of $9,000 on Wednesday night, an achievement that will help the organization keep a yearly concert series free of charge and allow the performances to move later this summer to a private parking lot.

The owners of four restaurants with downtown locations - Fork 'n' Cork, Front Street Brewery, Shuckin' Shack and Slice of Life - stepped in to bridge a nearly $5,000 gap Wednesday evening before the 9 p.m. fundraising deadline on a Kickstarter.com page WDI set up. The money will help the Downtown Sundown Concert Series, to be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays from May 22 to Sept. 4 this year, rent a lot at Princess and Water streets for the series' move once construction begins later this summer on its current spot, Riverfront Park. The series will also need to start its 11th year in 2016 in the private lot.  

"They ended up as a group combining resources and putting the final money in to get us to reach the goal," said Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of WDI, of the restaurant owners.

Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing fundraising platform, which means if WDI hadn't met the $9,000 total, none of the money could have been used for the concerts. Had the goal not been met, the options remaining to WDI included charging higher concession prices, using 20 percent of the organization's revenues, or making concertgoers pay to come.

"They’ve always been free so we really didn’t want to have to charge admission," Wolverton said.

James Smith, owner of Fork 'n' Cork, said the concerts give the area "a good vibe." Produced by WDI, the series attracted 26,000 people last year, according to the organization's count.

"Downtown in general benefits from those concerts," Smith said. 

The other restaurant owners who pitched in to complete the Kickstarter fundraising goal are Tom Harris of Front Street Brewery; Matt Pinccinin, Sean Cook and Carrie Bossler of Shuckin' Shack; and Ray Worrell of Slice of Life.