GALVESTON — Mardi Gras 2009 will look much like it did this year, but partygoers can expect big changes in 2010.

On Tuesday, city officials revealed that they planned to seek a promoter for the event, an idea that some Mardi Gras fans rejected last year when the city and park board were trying to find a way to make the event profitable.

City Manager Steve LeBlanc pointed to the Lone Star Rally and promoter Ron Limbock as an example of an event that was good for the city and also made money.

The city likely will start soliciting proposals for the 2010 event by the end of this year.

Using a promoter to provide an entertainment district downtown will likely split Mardi Gras into two districts, said members of the Galveston Park Board of Trustees.

Adults will party downtown while the family friendly action generated by the parades takes place on the seawall, said Michael Hightower, a park board member.

Parades during the first weekend of Mardi Gras already use Seawall Boulevard. Parades on the second weekend of the event have traditionally wound through downtown.

But two processions, the children’s parade and the Barkus and Meoux parade, already plan to move to the seawall for this year, said Councilman Danny Weber, who is also a member of the park board.

Other krewes have not decided where to hold their parades, he said.

If a promoter does take over responsibility for the event, the park board should be free of its financial commitment, said Jeri Kinnear, park board chair.

The board has lost money on the party for several years, which prompted board members to appeal to the city last year for help.

The two groups have reached a tentative agreement to fund next year’s party, using $150,000 contributions from each group. The balance of the money needed to pay for city services will come from the hotel tax revenue left over from the operation of the Galveston Island Convention Center.

The financial arrangement is identical to the one used this year, when the festival came in slightly below budget.

LeBlanc told downtown business owners during a Tuesday morning meeting that he hoped they would organize entertainment and vendor activities around their stores next year to help give partygoers something to do after the parades were over.

Last year, the park board stopped providing a ticketed entertainment district downtown.