Moving along a plan for a temporary amphitheater at the Great Park is among the first things on the Irvine City Council’s to-do list as city leaders reconvene for their first public meeting of 2024.
On Tuesday, Jan. 9, Irvine leaders will review two options for a temporary live music venue; both propose the venue to be established at North Lawn, a 7-acre multipurpose recreation area at the Great Park Sports Complex.
The two options differ in size, however. One would seat around 8,000 guests and host 35-40 shows per season featuring nationally touring artists while the other would seat around 5,000 and cater to Pacific Symphony’s performance calendar.
Should the city move forward with any one of those plans, the temporary venue will be set up for the 2024 summer season and will remain throughout the end of the 2026 season or until Irvine completes construction of its new amphitheater, which is slated to open in time for the 2027 summer concert season.
City staff recommends the more modest facility, which would host approximately 10-12 annual “concert in the park” style shows — likely to be held jointly with other complimentary Great Park events and be free of cost — on top of Pacific Symphony’s summer concert series.
While the smaller venue limits revenue opportunities, per the staff report, it requires less upfront investment compared to the larger venue, will mitigate potential noise issues felt by the nearby Travata retirement community and provide more space for kids to play at the Sports Complex. It would feature a smaller stage, limited food and beverage options and no bleachers, as opposed to the 8,000-capacity venue, which would require an extensive production infrastructure, bleacher-style seating and a wide range of food and beverage choices.
According to the staff report, parking spaces needed for the 5,000-capacity venue could be accommodated using only city-owned lots, while the larger venue would need to dip into adjacent…
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