State to Chautauqua Institution: Dump theater demolition plan

By Associated Press Published: December 11, 2014, 10:10 am

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World renowned classical jazz flutist Jim Walker performs a free concert with the band Free Flight in the Amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Wednesday, July 21, 1999. For the past 125 years, people have come to the Institution from across the world to take in its educational and cultural offerings. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP) — State preservation officials are asking the Chautauqua Institution to scrap plans to demolish the organization’s historic amphitheater and replace hit with a modern replica.
The institute located on Chautauqua Lake in New York southwest corner plans to spend $30 million to tear down most of the 120-year-old outdoor theater and build a new one that would increase seating capacity from just over 4,000 to 4,500. Bids for the project go out next week.
The Buffalo News reports that the State Historic Preservation Office sent a letter to the institution last week asking that it back away from the plan.
Preservation groups are opposed to the plan to demolish the National Historic Landmark.
Lectures by leading political figures and performances by national acts are held in the amphitheater during the institution’s annual nine-week summer season.

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