Ex-‘Blue Jacket’ site to open briefly before demolition
Outdoor drama was staged for years at Greene amphitheater.
Caesar’s Ford Park, the home of the former Blue Jacket amphitheater, will be opened to the public one last time before demolition work begins.
The park, at 520 S. Stringtown Road, will be opened from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The lighting tower and building that form the amphitheater as well as the two faux-rock stage structures are to be removed. Other structures — the gift shop, concession, bathrooms and dining hall — are to be left intact for renovation work.
The three-month project, at a cost of approximately $300,000, is set to begin in the coming weeks, but county officials wanted to give the public one last look at the outdoor drama site, where decades of memories formed for many people.
“We want to honor those memories and allow everyone to come together for one last visit to the amphitheater,” Greene County Parks & Trails Director Chrisbell Bednar said in a prepared statement.
Parks officials said staff will be escorting people from their cars to the site and back. The park will then remain closed to the public until the demolition work is complete and safety hazards are removed.
People remember fondly seeing or participating in the show — a portrayal of the life of Blue Jacket, a famous American Indian who lived in the Greene County region.
When this news organization broke the story of the county’s plan to demolish the amphitheater, dozens of people responded in shock and sadness and shared their thoughts by email and on social media.
Many who were part of the production, like Ron Brown-Gray, describe having a lasting, spiritual connection to the location as well as to former cast and crew members.
Brown-Gray said he was part of the production for 13 years, starting in 1988. He worked as an associate producer, performed backstage jobs and played the role of Black Hoof.
The place should be left “to sleep as is her current situation,” he said.
“Memories, whatever they are, should remain exactly that and give the spirits of the dead preference for their resting place,” Brown-Gray said. “Cast members don’t want to let go, but in the end they will and they will hold dear to what was learned and honed and prayed and spoken ... When you die you don’t come back but your voice echoes on the earth in a soundless wave of love and understanding.”
According to Jon Schroeder, an original cast member, the structures were built in 1982 when the theater company got its start.
Schroeder, who now lives in Salt Lake City and works as a union stage hand in the entertainment industry, credits his career to his experiences as a young man serving in various roles at the outdoor drama.
“The spiritual being of Mother Earth and being part of that theater,” he said, “Seeing the people come in and out, seeing the different people and how they interacted with life and cultures, that helped mold me into who I am today and how I view spirit.”
Jim Cain was on the county commission in the late 1970s when Dick and Dottie Martin approached the board about the idea for an outdoor amphitheater. The retired Xenia teacher and her husband ultimately succeeded in creating First Frontier, Inc., and securing a lease at the underused park on Stringtown Road.
Cain said it was a 40-year lease, the longest possible at the time under Ohio law, at a rate of $1 a