Bridgeport’s new amphitheater quietly opens for graduations
Live concerts still weeks away, but outdoor venue will be getting use
BRIDGEPORT — Think of it as a sort of dry run.
The city’s new amphitheater, set to begin hosting concerts this summer — two years later than initially planned — will hold its first big event Saturday.
But developer Howard Saffan and partner concert promoter Live Nation have not gone out of their way to celebrate the occasion as a grand opening since it is a limited attendance college graduation and the facility is, technically, not yet completed.
“I look at this as a step forward,” Saffan said Thursday.
The University of Bridgeport is renting the amphitheater for two in-person commencement ceremonies for 600 undergraduates and 600 graduate students.
“In addition to the 1,200 graduates, we are expecting to have between 2,000 to 2,400 guests. Every graduate was given two tickets,” said Miguel Arroyo, UB’s interim director of marketing and communications.
He said the events will follow state and federal COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.
“We were excited to hear about the building of the new amphitheater near our ... campus,” Arroyo continued. The facility is located between downtown and the harbor; UB is not far away in the South End.
Arroyo continued, “We contacted the amphitheater to see their availability to host our in-person commencement ceremonies. The venue and location were perfect for us to create a memorable experience for our graduating students.”
The school’s class of 2020 celebrated virtually because of the health crisis.
“It is incredibly gratifying to be able to host the thousands of kids who were deprived last year of the benefit of a graduation,” Saffan said. “So we truly look forward to celebrating with the grads and their families.”
But the amphitheater — built out of the shell of the city’s minor-league baseball stadium — will not be completed for a few more weeks. Saffan said the material for the massive tentlike roof is being installed and “finishes” need to be made to the restaurants and bar area.
“More decorative than structural,” he said, adding the goal is to be ready for live music in late July.
Though the project is incomplete, Saffan noted, “The city is aware of the graduation and all inspections
are up to date.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Joe Ganim’s office did not return a request for comment about the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy.
Bridgeport’s public schools are also expected to hold graduations at the site in mid-June.
Though heralded by Ganim, Saffan and many other community leaders as a boon for the local economy, the music venue has faced setbacks and controversies since the city and developer struck the original deal in late 2017.
Initially it was supposed to open in 2019. But there were construction delays Saffan blamed on the poor state of the 20-year-old baseball stadium and on a sewer line that had to be relocated from beneath the field.
Last spring, the City Council, following some heated meetings and debate, agreed to increase its contribution to the project from the $7.5 million agreed to in
2017 to $12 million. Saffan has declined to say how much he has invested, but has repeatedly suggested it was far more than anticipated and that the amphitheater will be “an absolute architectural marvel.”
The COVID-19 pandemic that struck Connecticut in March 2020 further slowed construction by disrupting the global supply chain and also requiring new health/ safety protocols, such as social-distancing between workers.
Then, most recently, Saffan and some on the council have butted heads over his efforts to install a billboard on vacant municipal land next door for advertising. That legislative body early this month in a close vote rejected the signage, but the parties are hoping to work out those differences, they said.
The formal 2021 grand opening has been a moving target given the continued impact the coronavirus and the roll-out of three vaccines have had on touring
performers and when — and how — large events will be allowed to resume.
Saffan as of late February stated he wanted to be able to hold the first concerts in June and announce those performers by March. Instead, though, the list of musical acts has been quietly trickling out through musicians’ websites and/or online ticket sales sites.
So far, Live Nation’s website is advertising Brothers Osborne on Aug. 20, The Greatest Hits of Foreigner Aug. 25 and The Beach Boys Aug. 29. But Saffan said an unrevealed act will be announced for late July.
The region’s live music landscape has also changed since Saffan first broached the amphitheater concept for Bridgeport. In New Haven, the new Westville Music Bowl — the former Connecticut Tennis Center — has made a splash as a “jam band” showcase and already begun hosting live shows, with 19 more planned for this month, June and July.