Ex-‘Blue Jacket’ site to open before demolition

Greene County officials wanted to give the public one last look at the former Blue Jacket amphitheater at Caesar’s Ford Park.

year, and First Frontier had the first option whether to continue the lease.

“I was there at the birth. I was part of the cast at one point,” said Cain, who is part of the current Caesar’s Ford Theatre, Inc. “It was a good play but it had its faults. The basic premise was false. But when telling history on stage or in a novel, you take some liberties ... This was a door into the Shawnee world for people who were not Indian by ancestry.”

Brian Montgomery said he and his wife Janine were part of the initial fundraising and promotions for First Frontier, Inc., which went bankrupt in 2007.

Brian recalls working on a volunteer basis with donors who contributed $1,000 to $10,000-plus and taking a model of the theater around to festivals to spread the word.

“The entire project was the ultimate in community effort,” he said. “We had the Xenia police chief cooking ‘Burgoo’ at Shawnee Park in Xenia, doctors, council members and pastors cleaning bathrooms, wiping off seats, taking tickets, and selling concessions.”

Montgomery said it was difficult for the First Frontier board to decide to shut the place down. He said he understands the “business decision” to demolish the amphitheater, but wonders if the money could have been used to preserve it.

“It’s sad that the enthusiasm to spend [money] to demolish the amphitheater couldn’t have been channeled into keeping it going,” he said. “Our two current and major recreational and historic attractions in Greene County, the Little Miami Bike Trail and the National Museum of the Air Force, are totally subsidized.”