Fair stage will get face-lift

Deepa Bharath

Officials will spruce up the amphitheater here in preparation for

nightly concerts during next year’s fair.

The Pacific Amphitheater closed in 1995 after Mesa Del Mar and

College Park residents complained that the noise from the concerts

rocked the entire neighborhood. Now, it is set to get a $500,000

face-lift before its grand reopening next year.

The 8,500-seat amphitheater will be operational only during the

fair, which next year will run between July 11 and Aug. 3, fair

officials said.

“The 2003 Fair will offer more entertainment choices than ever

before,” said Steve Beazley, the fair’s deputy general manager, in a

press release Thursday. “With the amphitheater, we were able to

expand our entertainment offerings and provide more varied styles of

music.”

The fair board voted Sept. 26 to move the concert series usually

held at the latimes.com Theater to the amphitheater. It also approved

a plan to remove a grassy berm, which would reduce the number of

people the amphitheater could accommodate to 8,500.

In the early 1990s, the venue angered neighbors who complained

about the high-decibel levels from the concerts. At one point, the

18,500-seat amphitheater hosted sold-out shows starring big names

such as Madonna, Sting and Frank Sinatra.

It opened in the early 1980s as a private venue run by the

Nederlander Organization, which backed out of a lease with the county

of Orange after a series of resident lawsuits succeeded in

instituting noise restrictions.

Beazley said Thursday that the sound restrictions currently in

place will be strictly adhered to. The amphitheater has a permanent

court injunction placed on it to keep the noise level to 55 decibels.

That is, still, too much noise, longtime Mesa Del Mar resident

Nadine Andreen said. However, the community would feel better about

it if fair officials chose the bands carefully, she said.

“In the past, we’ve had music that was offensive and not

acceptable to the community as a whole,” Andreen said. “If any of my

children, who are now in their 50s, use the language in that kind of

music, I’d smack them on the mouth.”

Councilwoman Libby Cowan said the council has had a good working

relationship with fair officials.

“What we have to look into is if they meet all terms of the

settlement agreement,” she said.

Fair Board member Emily Sanford said the board had to consider

what was the best use for that property.

“The Orange County community wants us to use that amphitheater,”

she said. “We do not want to be bad neighbors. We will stay within

the guidelines that have already been agreed upon.”

Andreen said she was only echoing the sentiments of her neighbors

when she said: “Whatever you do, please, please think about our

ears.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].