$8 million facility seven years in the making

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The stage is set for the opening of the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.

So is the concession stand, beer stand, box office and the lawn where thousands will soon sprawl out to take in live entertainment.

The $8 million downtown facility – seven years in the making – will welcome the public for the first time on Friday.

The free open house, dubbed First Look Friday, will begin at 5 p.m. with a ribbon cutting and remarks by Youngstown Foundation Executive Director Jan Strasfeld, JAC Management President Eric Ryan and Mayor Jamael Brown.

Visitors will be able to stroll the manicured pathways of the amphitheater, which has a capacity of 4,800, to get a feel for it. The event will include free parking at the Covelli Centre lot, which connects to the venue by a new promenade that goes under the Market Street Bridge.

Site preparation and construction began more than a year ago, and the city-owned facility reached a state of readiness last week.

Ryan of JAC Management, which operates Covelli Centre and the new amphitheater, is confident about the public getting it’s first look on friday.

“I’ll probably get to sleep on Sunday,” he said. “There is an anticipation that comes along with all of this, but it’s not our first rodeo. Doing the concerts at Stambaugh Stadium is more difficult because we had to create everything there. The infrastructure is already in place at the amphitheater – the stage, concessions, restrooms.”

JAC Live, Ryan’s promotions firm, has staged concerts at the stadium the previous two summers, but so far none is scheduled this year.

Ryan said JAC employees should feel at home at the amphitheater because the concession stand, cooking area, alcohol stand, box office and sales equipment is set up and positioned the same way they are at Covelli Centre.

“We designed the concession stands, bar and box office to be replicas of Covelli, so we won’t have to retrain them and show them where everything is,” said Ryan. “The Ticketmaster system is also the same, so the box office shouldn’t miss a beat.

“Making sure security is in place and thinking through that kind of stuff is always a bit of a guessing game, but I feel very confident that our team will be ready. There might be some hiccups, but opening this up is easier than a stadium show where there had never been a concert before.”

The first ticketed event at the amp will be Saturday’s concert by Michael Stanley and the Resonators and Donnie Iris and the Cruisers.

Friday’s free event – which will feature a concert by local acts Geo C and Tha Storm, the Sensations and the Props – will be a shakedown night for it.

“If any bugs arise, we can work them out on Friday,” said Ryan.

Friday’s event will include live music. The Props will take the stage at about 5:30 p.m., with the Sensations following at 7:30 p.m. and Geo C and Tha Storm at about 9:15 p.m.

George Case, leader of Geo C and Tha Storm, said his band is opening for a Prince tribute band show at Stambaugh Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and will have to hustle down to the amp for that gig.

While Brock Builders, which constructed the amp, handed it over to the city last Wednesday, a few things outside the facility are still not quite done.

Spray-on grass, which will take about a month to grow in, was applied this week outside the perimeter.

The community alley festival area under the Market Street Bridge is expected to begin hosting events in August, said Derrick McDowell, community coordinator.

For the first year of the amp, Ryan was expecting to book at most a half-dozen national acts. But with the help of Livenation, the international promotion company, nine such concerts have been scheduled. A few other events, including the annual Wine and Jazz Fest, are also on the schedule.

Go to youngstownfoundationamp.com for the complete list of events.

“We’ve been doing business with Livenation for a long time,” said Ryan. “For this first year, we did some heavy lifting, and it’s much bigger than I ever dreamt. These boutique amphitheaters are what cities are starting to do, and we’re glad to be at the forefront of the trend.”

Here are a few things worth knowing about this weekend’s events at the amp:

Chairs: Visitors can bring their own beach chairs or blankets on Friday – seat height can be no more than 9 inches – but not on Saturday. However, the chairs can be rented for $5 for the Michael Stanley concert.

Bad weather: In case of a rainout Saturday, folks can hold on to their tickets for a possible rescheduled date or request a refund at point of purchase at any time. All tickets will be refunded immediately if a cancellation is announced.

Road closure: Police will close the intersection of Front and South Phelps streets to traffic before and after all events, for pedestrian safety, as this is where the entrance is. However, emergency vehicles and those with handicapped access cards will be permitted to enter.

Other stuff: Friday’s free event will include sunglasses giveaways, local food vendors, and sales of limited edition T-shirts printed by Gorilla Joe.