Document text
Photo by Bob Pennell Fair manager Chris Borovansky has big hopes for a 6,200-seat amphitheater to be built near the south pond at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. Amphitheater could bring stars out at Expo By DANI DODGE CENTRAL POINT -- A new amphitheater at the Jackson County Fairgrounds and Exposition Park should be hosting big-name entertainment by spring 2001. "Nearly every week you've got entertainers going from San Francisco to Portland on I-5," fair manager Chris Borovansky told the county commissioners Wednesday. "With 6,200 seats and high-quality production, we will have great opportunities for entertainment. "It will be a moneymaker for us, without question." The idea of an amphitheater at the fairgrounds has been kicked around for about 20 years, but it never got off the ground. A few years back, fair officials explored the possibility of allowing a private party to build the facility, but that, too, fell through. Then in the 1999 legislative session, Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, tucked a $600,000 economic development grant for the project into the state budget. Borovansky said planning started right after that. The entire project is expected to cost $1.5 million. The $900,000 difference between the grant and the final price will be raised in contributions and sponsorships. Theoretically, even the amphitheater's name is for sale to the highest bidder. The outdoor amphitheater will have a stage set so the audience has a view of the fairgrounds pond and Mount McLoughlin. The seating area will contain both reserved seating and lawn seating on gently sloping ground. The venue will be three times the size of the Britt Festivals in Jacksonville, with more parking and amenities -- such as the Compton Arena -- for autograph signings or corporate parties, Borovansky said. Because of the larger size, he predicted events will be reasonably priced. The amphitheater could host a variety of private and public functions including musical and theater groups, high school graduations and Easter services. Even a self-proclaimed county critic praised the project. "We are in the middle of San Francisco and Portland, and we are a good place to stop ... a good place to have things going on," said Walt Fitzgerald. "It's thinking ahead and speaking to our tourism." Borovansky, several fair board members and a group of volunteers representing local entertainment and high-tech and construction industries met with the project architects Tuesday. The Denver, Colo., design firm of Sink, Combs, Dethlef designed the Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver and the Shoreline amphitheater in Mountain View, Calif., among other projects. The fund-raising campaign will begin this spring after the architects draw up some initial designs. While Borovansky admitted the campaign will be a challenge, he expects it to succeed. He said he learned lessons from watching the fund-raising efforts at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater and the Center for the Visual Arts at Southern Oregon University. "Worst-case scenario, we'll scale back," he said. In the end, the amphitheater will improve the quality of life in the Rogue Valley, Borovansky said. "We've got a lot of things cultural and recreational to do around here, but we don't have the ability to draw entertainers of a high quality," he said. Acts such as Garth Brooks require 10,000 seats, but the Expo could book such performers as Santana and Mariah Carey, Borovansky said. "Pick your genre, and we've got the capacity for the top." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA