The Youngstown Foundation has gifted the City of Youngstown with $3 million to be used toward the building of the City’s new Amphitheater. This marks the first gift to the project from the community. As part of the gift, The Youngstown Foundation has received the naming rights to the new facility for 20 years and will be recognized as a founding sponsor of the project in perpetuity.
At a press conference today, The Foundation not only announced the gift, but also unveiled the new name of the facility — The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater.
“As The Youngstown Foundation prepares to commemorate its 100th year in 2018, we are thrilled to play a part in a project that will transform the future landscape of downtown Youngstown and the quality of life for many years to come. We could not think of a more fitting way to kick off our centennial year than with the announcement of this gift to the City of Youngstown,” Jan Strasfeld, Executive Director of The Youngstown Foundation, said.
“The City of Youngstown is truly grateful to The Youngstown Foundation for helping turn this dream of a new downtown venue into a reality. Through this generous gift, we’ll be able to bring to life this vision of creating an even more vibrant downtown Youngstown in a new outdoor facility that embraces the arts, culture and the community,” Youngstown Mayor John McNally said.
The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater will be located within a sprawling riverfront park that will span 12 acres from the Covelli Centre site to the Mahoning Avenue bridge and along the Front Street corridor. The Amphitheater will host countless community events as well as national and regional touring artists. The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater is set to have shovels in the ground Spring 2018, with construction bids on the project opening in January of 2018 and the Amphitheater’s grand opening set for Spring 2019. The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater will host an event capacity of up to 4,500 patrons with state-of-the-art stage, sound and lighting, multiple concession areas, flexible hard seating area in front of the stage, a grass lawn and VIP area.
Eric Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of JAC LIVE and one of the leading partners in the Amphitheater project, said, “My team has been working on this project for the better part of five years and to see what was once a dream become a reality is truly indescribable. It would be impossible for me to imagine a better founding partner and naming right’s sponsor than The Youngstown Foundation. Their work in the community over the last century is inspirational to all of us and for this facility to bare their name is humbling.”
For more information, please contact Adrienne Sabo at 330-707-2088 or asabo@prodigalcompany.com. To learn more about The Youngstown Foundation, visit youngstownfoundation.org.
About The Youngstown Foundation
Founded in 1918, The Youngstown Foundation is the largest community foundation in the Valley, the 4th oldest in the country and ranked in the top 100 nationally. With more than $110 million in charitable funds, over $6 million in grants is awarded annually. For more information on grant application guidelines, applying for a grant, or our Support Fund charities, please visit us at www.youngstownfoundation.org or contact us at 330-744-0320.
