Sunday, August 19, 2001
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Sunday, August 19, 2001 |
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Fayetteville amphitheater plans outlined
By MONROE ROARK
Fayetteville residents can expect to have a new entertainment venue to call their own next summer. Plans for the first phase of the Villages Amphitheater, named for its proposed location in the Villages at LaFayette Park multi-use development, were unveiled at Thursday night's City Council meeting. Dan Davis of Integrated Science and Engineering, who made the formal presentation, said that construction on the first phase should begin within three months with completed set for next June. "We hope the next July Jam is held here," he said. The master plan for the project developed after two months of work by a committee composed of Main Street and Downtown Development Authority members, city staff and other professionals whose expertise is directly related to this type of development calls for about 1,500 fixed seats and another 700 lawn seats, with full-service concession facilities, multiple bathrooms, an orchestra section and state-of-the-art stage facilities, Davis said. The amphitheater is to be located at the corner of Tiger Trail and LaFayette Avenue, with the stage backing up to the parking lot of Fayette County High School. An agreement has been reached with the school system to give the city rights to that parking area during amphitheater events, with the Board of Education having priority when scheduling school-related events at the venue. The first phase will consist of some 1,500 lawn seats along with most of the other facilities mentioned. All will be carefully buffered and landscaped to keep with the standards already set for the Villages development, Davis said. The project will be financed with a 20-year bond, and debt service is expected to be met by a combination of impact fees, user fees and hotel-motel tax revenues. Coincidently, the City Council approved a 2-percent hike in the hotel-motel tax a few minutes after the conclusion of the amphitheater presentation. Mayor Kenneth Steele pointed out that one of the instructions given the committee at the outset was to find a way to fund this project without raising taxes for Fayetteville citizens, and he is pleased that this has apparently been done. The only question raised by anyone in the audience concerned possible traffic congestion, and officials responded that because of the size of the venue and the types of events that would be scheduled there, traffic would be no worse than a typical day at Fayette County High School and less congested than at one of the school's football games. The amphitheater will be owned by the Downtown Development Authority and managed by Main Street. The property where it is to be located was recently brought into the Main Street District by the City Council. "The mission of the amphitheater is to create a multi-purpose venue that will serve to represent all aspects of the cultural, arts and educational community in a professional and esthetically pleasing environment," according to a press statement by the Main Street office. "It is our goal to make this very much a community-friendly facility," said Main Street manager Nancy Price. "Part of what we envision here is to have drama productions and theater, youth orchestra and other cultural events intermixed in a schedule with a limited number of higher-end events." She added that the facility will also be available for rental. "This will not be Chastain Park, and it will not be Peachtree City," said Davis. "This has a specific purpose. This is for Fayetteville."
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