The Lima Rotary heard from Allen Lima Leadership about all of the events set to take place to open the Pangle Pavilion and Greater Lima Region Amphitheater on Monday.
Jacob Espinosa/The Lima News
LIMA — The Lima Rotary heard from Allen Lima Leadership about all of the events set to take place to open the Pangle Pavilion and Greater Lima Region Amphitheater on Monday, ahead of a week full of inaugural events.
Jessica Cunningham delivered a reminder of free events such as a barbecue roast, an art fair and a family fun festival taking place along with four days of music to celebrate the opening of the venue from Aug. 2 to 5.
“I think it’s a really exciting time for downtown Lima,” she said. “We are very blessed to have the amphitheater as part of downtown.”
And in the next week, residents will get some up-close looks at the amphitheater with a media day set for Tuesday and a ribbon cutting next Monday, July 31.
“It’s so hard to put into words what I think this can potentially mean for the city,” Abe Ambroza, CEO of the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center, said in June. “I’ve been at the Civic Center for just a little over seven years now and seeing how downtown has transformed with new businesses, new restaurants, new things developing and real estate investments is great. And the amphitheater is just going to be another addition to more investment into downtown growing outward.”
The mood at the Civic Center overall, which will be handling ticket sales for events such as the opening weekend concerts, is no different.
“It’s so awesome to see what the community has done to bring the amphitheater to life and then all of the different people and businesses and sponsors that are involved in making it come full circle,” said Carmen Cecala-Wells, Director of Development for the VMCCC. “It’s great that the Civic Center Foundation is involved in the project and it’s just such an exciting time. Downtown is finally happening and to be a part of that is so great. Next week is going to be full of energy and nerves, but lots of excitement.”
Cunningham echoed those feelings herself.
“I guess some adjectives to describe how we’re feeling would be excited and enthusiastic,” she said. “A lot of innovation and thought processes have been put into, ‘What can we bring to downtown Lima for this family fun festival that will make it fun and exciting for the family?’”
Among the performers at the opening weekend concerts for the Lima Amphitheater will be homegrown acts such as the Indoorfins, Derek Alan, Liam Stolly, Stedic Music and Columbus-based Kevin Ashba, as well as headliners including Ian Munsick, Al Jardine and All-4-One with Naturally 7.
For a full list of events for opening weekend, visit the Civic Center website.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
