Music to return to amphitheater

Paul Clinton

The Orange County Fair board has decided to brush the mothballs

off the Pacific Amphitheater for next year’s fair as a way to attract

better bands and give audiences more comfort, a fair official said.

The fair board, on Thursday, voted to shift the concert series

usually held at the latimes.com Theater to the long-shuttered

amphitheater, which has been closed since 1995.

“What we’re doing is taking that program and transferring it to

that venue, where it was in 1995,” said Steve Beazley, the fair’s

deputy manager. “We’re not ready to do anything [long-term] with that

venue.”

Beazley insisted the decision doesn’t open the door for the

fairgrounds to begin booking rock concerts outside of the three weeks

in July the fair runs. Board members do plan to use the theater in

the future, as they move forward with a master plan laying out how

the board will use the buildings and other facilities at the

fairgrounds.

In the early 1990s, the venue became the focal point of angry

residents living nearby, who complained about the noise coming from

high-profile concerts.

At one point in time, the 18,500-seat amphitheater hosted sold-out

shows by Madonna, Sting and Frank Sinatra.

It opened in the early 1980s as a private venue run by the

Nederlander Organization, which backed out of a lease with Orange

County after a series of lawsuits by residents successfully brought

noise restrictions.

Patrick Clark, a College Park resident who led the fight to close

the theater, said he was distressed by the news that the theater

could be revived.

“I’m about to have a heart attack,” Clark said “Why don’t they

just bulldoze the place and turn it into a parking lot.”

On Thursday, the board approved what Beazley called a “fix-it

plan” for the theater.

“It’ll be an upgrade,” Beazley said. “[The board] would like to

see if we could do it for a minimal cost, but give the fair-goer a

better experience.”

Beazley, who also books the musical groups for the fair, said fair

officials are now crafting a budget for the scope of work on the

theater. For “less than $1 million,” Beazley said the fair board

would like to refurbish the theater’s seats, walkways, stage

structure and backstage dressing room.

The board is expected to consider that plan at its Oct. 24

meeting.

The board has also approved a plan to remove a grassy berm, which

would reduce the number of people the amphitheater could accommodate

to 8,500.

But that plan remains on hold, until the board can find a

contractor to remove the large quantity of dirt, Beazley said.