After being under construction for about six months and costing a little over $49 million, the Lakeview Amphitheater on Onondaga Lake is opening Sept. 3 with a Miranda Lambert concert — the first and only show of the season.

The seasonal venue has a capacity of about 17,500 — 12,000 spots on the lawn and 5,000 in the pavilion. The amphitheater will be open from early summer through the fall as weather permits. County officials said they hope to have about 20 performances per season starting next year.

“From a music standpoint, Live Nation is one of the biggest promoters in the country, and they tell us that this venue rivals any other venue in the country,” said Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney.

But the sparkling new venue doesn’t come without its skeptics. While supporters have pegged the amphitheater as a way to draw big time artists and boost the economy, others say they believe shows will largely benefit the performers rather than local businesses and residents.

Mahoney said the county expects about $20 million per season to be generated from this revenue, paying off the nearly $50 million it cost to create in just three years.

Mahoney said she believes the new venue will significantly expand Syracuse’s music and cultural scene.

“This is going to be a tremendous addition to the music opportunities that people have,” Mahoney said. “When you look year after year at the schedules of artists tours you will see that there’s nowhere in Central New York in any of those tours because we had no venue. It’s putting us on the map of national music.”

County legislator Danny Liedka, who voted in favor of building the facility, said he hopes that the new venue will bring an increased amount of tax revenue to the city and create new jobs. He added that he’s hopeful the amphitheater will attract concertgoers throughout the northeast to Syracuse, further boosting the local economy by providing business for hotels, restaurants and other attractions.

Liedka said he thinks the amphitheater will repurpose and revitalize the former wasteland that it’s located on. The amphitheater was built on top of toxic waste beds, and the lawn was covered in an impermeable fabric and up to 10 feet of soil to ensure safety.

“It’ll help rejuvenate that whole area,” Liedka said. “I think it’s going to take an area that’s been depressed and almost written off and transform it.”

But county legislator Kathleen Rapp, who voted against the project, is less optimistic about the venue’s economic potential.

“If it rains and nobody comes, they (the entertainer) lose, but if it’s a success and they (the entertainer) sell out, they reap the reward,” Rapp said. “The community doesn’t get anything out of that.”

She added that because the theater is limited to about 20 shows a season, it won’t be able to create many jobs, and the jobs it will create will likely be only part-time.

Despite her doubts, Rapp plans on attending the concert and checking out the new venue.

“I haven’t heard it yet, but apparently, acoustically, it’s among the best in the country,” Rapp said. “And there is not a bad seat in the house, I heard. We’ll see on Thursday — I bought lawn seats just to see.”

The theater will also affect Syracuse through its relationship with the Great New York State Fair. Mahoney expects the amphitheater to elevate the State Fair’s Grandstand concert series, which has been struggling to book acts. Tickets to see Lambert perform at the amphitheater will also include admission to the fair.

The tickets are available for $35 in the lawn and $75-$95 in the pavilion. Gates for the concert open at 6 p.m. and the music will begin at 7:30 p.m. Despite it being the first show, tickets are still available on livenation.com.

Kelly Carr, general manager of the Oncenter, who is organizing the event, said he mainly hopes that the concert showcases the new venue and that everyone attending the concert walks away with a positive experience.

Said Carr: “It’s such a nice centralized location that you’re going to have people from Syracuse, Onondaga County, surrounding counties, SU, and that’s the goal.”

Published on September 1, 2015 at 10:18 pm

Contact Alex: aerdekia@syr.edu