Newly-built amphitheater in New Albany set to host events
For the past year, New Albany residents have been taking note of a new entertainment venue springing up in their midst.
In 2020, ground broke on the Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater, and on the heels of its much-anticipated opening this past week, its first slate of concerts are scheduled to take place this month.
“Anytime you have a project that you can literally watch come out of the ground, after years of talking about it, it really does build that level of anticipation,” said Mayor Sloan Spalding.
“It’s been fun to watch it emerge all year,” said Heather Garner, the executive director of the New Albany Symphony, which, on Sept. 10, will give the first ticketed concert at the new outdoor venue.
“It did kind of rise out of the dust,” Garner said.
The amphitheater will also host Broadway, television and film star Leslie Odom Jr. on Sept. 23 — a concert that sold out nearly a month ago. Between table seating and general admission on the lawn, the venue can accommodate at least 800 people and likely upward of 1,000.
Instantly identifiable with its halfmoon-shaped bandshell — with a translucent polymer material pulled over rounded wooden beams — the amphitheater is located in the epicenter of the community: Situated on land owned by the New Albany-plain Local School District, the venue is adjacent to, and walkable from, both the school and the Mccoy Center for the Arts, an indoor performing-arts venue that opened in 2008.
“It’s very prominent in the town center — maybe the most visible spot in the town,” said Craig Mohre, the president of the New Albany Community Foundation. “Every kid from kindergarten to senior year can access the facility and use it. ”Leaders imagine multi-venue events, such as film or music festivals, unfolding at both the amphitheater and the Mccoy Center; the latter could also be used in the event that an amphitheater show is rained out.
“You have to pay attention to Ohio weather and the seasonal aspect of it,” Spalding said. “One of the great things about it being right next door to the Mccoy Center, is, if there is an adverse weather event, we can just simply move it inside.”
The idea for an outdoor entertainment venue in New Albany stretches back decades.
“Back when New Albany was a village, ... (an amphitheater) was mentioned in strategic planning documents,” Mohre said. “The idea has been around for over 20 years.”
About seven years ago, the project was given fresh life thanks to a financial gift from the family of the late Charles Hinson, an associate for many years at L Brands who died in 2004. His widow, Charleen Hinson, is still a resident of New Albany; their son, Alan Hinson, is a realtor with New Albany Realty.
In addition to the Hinsons’ contribution of $600,000, private families and companies, as well as the city of New Albany and Plain Township, provided funds for the $7 million project.
“The gifts range from small all the way up to bigger gifts,” Mohre said.
Architect Paul Westlake of DLR Group in Cleveland was tapped to design the amphitheater. Westlake, previously responsible for leading the design of the Mccoy Center, sought to honor New Albany’s Georgian-style design while also borrowing from other influences.
“I was looking at an amphitheater I had visited in Vicenza, Italy, which was designed by Andrea Palladio in the 16h century,” said Westlake, noting that the audience arrangement in that amphitheater was in a perfect semicircle.
Taking a cue from that amphitheater, Westlake designed an exedra — a semicircular colonnade where tables can be placed — at the far end of the lawn.
“We kind of adopted that shape for the main wrap of the seating area,” Westlake said.
Officials anticipate a variety of events taking place at the amphitheater, which should be available for use from April through October most years. The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) will operate the venue, as it does the Mccoy Center.
Community events, including Independence Day activities or the New Albany Walking Classic, will likely fan out to the amphitheater. New Albany-based arts groups, including the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, will also have a new place to perform.
The orchestra’s Sept. 10 concert — a program of popular film music, “Night at the Movies” — will take place in the amphitheater instead of its usual home of the Mccoy Center.
“I think that we will probably start our season at the amphitheater every year,” Garner said. “We have a summer music festival planned for June of 2022 in the amphitheater.”
(Garner said that the orchestra is asking unvaccinated or immunocompromised attendees to wear masks for the upcoming concert and that Franklin County Public Health guidelines will be followed for outdoor gatherings with under 1,000 people.)
Mohre also hopes that larger arts groups in Columbus, such as Balletmet and the Columbus Symphony, will make their way to New Albany to perform in the amphitheater; officials from several groups have already toured the venue, he said.
Next year, a kids’ movie night could also be in the offing, and the plan is for marquee artists — such as Odom on Sept. 23 — to be booked to perform at the amphitheater, too.
“If we can bring in name performers, that would be wonderful,” Mohre said. Other uses may emerge over time. “We might find that it’s a very attractive wedding venue,” Westlake said.
All of which translates to a potential uptick in economic activity for New Albany, which recently became home to a new Brewdog just across the street.
“(The amphitheater) is definitely going to be an attraction that brings people there,” Spalding said. “In fairness, as the mayor, I hope they spend some money when they’re in town.”
And, as some arts patrons are likely to remain more comfortable in outdoor venues than indoor ones because of the pandemic, the Hinson Amphitheater might be opening at just the right time.
“People are still a little wary of gathering inside,” Mohre said. “The timing to have this beautiful outdoor venue where the community can congregate is perfect.”
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