ATLANTA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra signed a deal this week to build a $35 million amphitheater with the help of the Woodruff Arts Center.
The 12,000-seat Encore Park for the Arts, planned for 45 wooded acres in Alpharetta, Georgia, is expected to open in May 2008, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The park would host a variety of events, from big-name pop acts and touring Broadway shows to community affairs, as well as summertime Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performances.
The north Fulton County venue will be financed primarily by a private bond issue, and operated by the ASO. Officials hope the facility will become “a major revenue stream” for the orchestra.
The ASO said the amphitheater will not change the programming at the 6,000-seat Chastain Park Amphitheater, where the ASO presents a variety of classical music and pops concerts each summer.
“Encore Park extends our footprint northward of [Atlanta], following growth where it leads us,” ASO’s chief financial officer, Don Fox, who has overseen planning for the project for the past three years, told the paper. Fox termed the new venue “part of the solution to [the ASO's] larger financial health.” –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
