{"id":9396,"date":"2023-08-24T13:55:53","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=9396"},"modified":"2023-08-24T13:55:53","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:55:53","slug":"finkbeiner-and-others-object-to-possibility-of-downtown-amphitheater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/24\/finkbeiner-and-others-object-to-possibility-of-downtown-amphitheater\/","title":{"rendered":"Finkbeiner and Others Object to Possibility of Downtown Amphitheater"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pete Culp addresses his downtown amphitheater concerns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Truth Staff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Over the past several weeks, there has been rampant speculation that the City of Toledo is considering approving the construction of a amphitheater in downtown Toledo on the site currently occupied by a parking lot across from the Valentine Theatre and Georgio\u2019s Restaurant.<\/p>\n

An Saturday, August 19, former mayor Carty Finkbeiner and several others held a press conference in front of the Valentine to express their collective dismay at such a prospect. That prospect, they noted, goes against the concept of a carefully considered master plan for the city and would wreak havoc on businesses such as Georgio\u2019s and the historic entertainment center, the Valentine\u2019s Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a risk we shouldn\u2019t take,\u201d said Michael Young, former city planner who flew in from San Diego to add his voice to the protest. \u201cThere\u2019s been no call for an amphitheater downtown, no clamoring masses \u2013 we also have other amphitheaters near downtown. This is the reason we go through a master planning process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parking lot in question is bordered by Admas, Superior, Jackson and Huron Streets. It serves the patrons of the Valentine and Georgio\u2019s on a regular basis, along with city employees in One Government Center.<\/p>\n

Pete Culp, a former member oof the City Plan Commission, also spoke out about the idea of spending money on such a facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are other types of needs more important than another amphitheater, such as housing, assisting minority businesses,\u201d said Culp.<\/p>\n

The issue of a downtown amphitheater is the brainchild of Hunter Brucks, a concert promoter, who had advanced the idea of an amphitheater in Waterville. When that proposal fell apart, Brucks turned his attention to downtown Toledo.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Lucas County board of commissioners agreed to spend $35,000 with ConnecToledo to perform a feasibility study on locating an amphitheater in downtown Toledo. The City of Toledo is expected to contribute $9,500. The study is expected to be completed in 10-12 weeks, according to Commissioner Pete Gerken.<\/p>\n

Those at the press conference on Saturday took issue with the idea that money had been spent on such a study without being part of a master plan. \u201cThe Plan Commission would never have approved this when I was on the board,\u201d said Culp.<\/p>\n

Along with the concern for the commercial enterprises that would be negatively impacted by such a structure, Saturday\u2019s group also expressed concern for downtown residents would be inconvenienced by the noise created.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn amphitheater with sound bouncing off concrete is disruptive to residents,\u201d said Theresa M. Gabriel, a former city official who held a number of positions during her tenure. \u201cWe have a lot of space already underutilized that we could spend our money on \u2013 be it federal, city or grants \u2013 in helping our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the press conference was being held, the group was informed that Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz had supposedly downplayed the idea of such a structure at the suggested location across from the Valentine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor has not said that publicly, on the record,\u201d said Finkbeiner. \u201cI won\u2019t rest, nor will these folks, and the Valentine Theatre\u2019s board of directors should not rest until he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finkbeiner went on to offer his opinion, shared by the rest of the group, that the best place to build an amphitheater is \u201con the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing the advantages of the scenic views and the access to watercraft, Finkbeiner said that \u201cthe best amphitheaters in the world are on the water.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Truth Staff Over the past several weeks, there has been rampant speculation that the City of Toledo is considering approving the construction of a amphitheater in downtown Toledo on the site currently occupied by a parking lot across from the Valentine Theatre and Georgio\u2019s Restaurant. An Saturday, August 19, former mayor Carty Finkbeiner and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[189],"class_list":["post-9396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9398,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396\/revisions\/9398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9396"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=9396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}