Matt Huffman speaks to a crowd of people that was gathered to inaugurate the Pangle Pavilion and Greater Lima Region Park and Amphitheater on Monday with a ribbon cutting ahead of Wednesday’s start to opening weekend at the amphitheater.
Jacob Espinosa/The Lima News
LIMA —A crowd of people gathered to inaugurate the Pangle Pavilion and Greater Lima Region Park and Amphitheater on Monday with a ribbon cutting ahead of Wednesday’s start to opening weekend at the amphitheater.
Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center CEO Abe Ambroza said that he was impressed with the amount of people who showed up to take part in the ceremony.
“I don’t know the number here, but we had a large number of people in attendance and that really says a lot,” he said. “There are a lot of people in this community that are excited and proud to have the space opening up. So the fact that I get to be a part of it is humbling and I’m really proud of that.”
In addition to Ambroza, Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith, Lima Rotary President Leslie Fry, Rich Rudolph of Rudolph Foods and Sen. Matt Huffman (R) spoke before taking out the big scissors and each touched on the importance the venue will have to bringing recreation, culture and economy to the downtown area.
“I’m both honored and excited to be here today to take part in the opening of this space that’s going to be used for generations to come,” Smith said afterward. “The amphitheater will be used for concerts, plays and shows, but it’s also surrounded by green space that can be used as a public park. So, in the future it will be maintained by the Lima Parks and Recreation department and we just hope that it continues to be an open space for residents, visitors and families.”
Fry said that it was exciting as someone who has been around since the project started almost six years ago.
“As president of Rotary now, it’s exciting to see what people can do when they work together,” she said. “It gained the excitement of so many people throughout Lima and Allen County and it’s really going to make this place more of a destination as we continue to see more of the revitalization efforts.”
And the audience was pleased with what they heard and saw, too.
“They’ve done a nice job really boosting the overall economic activity of downtown and they have several nice projects going on surrounding it,” Amy Hackenberg said. “I think it’s going to be an extremely successful project for the city of Lima.”
Meanwhile, Ambroza and the rest of the Civic Center remain focused on the task at hand of making sure everything runs smoothly and looking ahead to the excitement.
“It’s similar to what I look forward to every time we have a show in the Civic Center,” he said. “People are coming out here to have fun or spend their money so for them to experience something new, that’s going to be something about this too. Sometimes people are coming to the Civic Center for their fifth show of the year, but to have the people come out here to experience something new is going to just be an added benefit to me and what I get to experience.”
For more information on the amphitheater and park and to purchase tickets to this weekend’s shows, visit the Civic Center website.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
