St. Augustine Amphitheatre

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St. Augustine Amphitheatre
200px
Address 1340 A1A S # C
St Augustine, Florida
United States
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owner St. Johns County Parks & Recreation department[1]
Capacity 4092[2]
Construction
Opened 1965[2][5][6]
Rebuilt 2001 - 2007, Fred Halback and Les Thomas[3][4]
Years active 1965 - present
Website
https://www.staugamphitheatre.com/

The St. Augustine Amphitheatre is a venue for outdoor concerts and other large gatherings on A1A in St Augustine, Florida, United States. The Amphitheatre seats 3,493 persons, and is managed by the St. Johns County Parks & Recreation department.

History

The Amphitheatre was built in 1965 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine.[2][5][6] The land was originally part of Anastasia State Park.[1] The amphitheatre itself was constructed in one of the old coquina quarries used to supply building materials for St. Augustine and the Castillo de San Marcos.[7][8][9]

The Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paul Green was commissioned to write a play to be performed at the Amphitheatre. The result was Cross and Sword: A Symphonic Drama of the Spanish Settlement of Florida,[10] a musical reenactment of the first years of St. Augustine's existence. Cross and Sword was designated the official state play in 1973 by the Florida Legislature.[11] The play ran until 1996, when budget constraints ended its more than 30-year run.[5][6][12]

The amphitheatre was used infrequently during the following years, though it did host a free summer Shakespeare Festival from 1997 to 2003.[13][14] In 2002, St. Johns County acquired the property and the following year began an $8.7 million renovation.[5][6] The upgraded facility reopened in August 2007, which includes a fiberglass tensile canopy over the main stage.[15]

Gallery of Performances

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 St. Augustine Amphitheatre - Venue - Specs
  3. ↑ St. Augustine Amphitheatre - Halback Design Group, Inc.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Paul Green Bibliography
  11. ↑ Florida State Symbols - The State Play: Cross and Sword
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ St. Augustine Amphitheatre - St. Johns County Government Gateway
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