Will Bridgeport amphitheater be able to host crowded concerts?
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The newly named Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater, currently under construction in Bridgeport.Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
BRIDGEPORT Picture a warm summer evening with thousands of music lovers packing the new amphitheater to enjoy their favorite musical act. They sing along, cheer, dance, sip cold local beer and munch on concessions from area vendors.
That scene, despite the year-old global coronavirus pandemic, is what the men behind Bridgeport’s 5,700-seat outdoor concert venue are envisioning as they ready to finally open after missing the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
But is it realistic?
“It’s not about us. It’s about the entertainer,” Saffan said Thursday. “Live Nation will book entertainers based on a certain level of income they can expect.” And that talent will not tour without full capacity crowds, Saffan said.
Harbor Yard Amphitheater Set To Reopen Under New Name
After a few construction delays last year, the Harbor Yard Amphitheater was set to open and had already announced some concerts that were scheduled, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Once that happened, everything was put on hold until this week when it was announced that the amphitheater would be opening on May 15, but under a new name, the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater.
For more than 20 years, Connecticut residents knew it as the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, the home of the Bridgeport Bluefish. When they made their final out in 2017, it was announced that the venue would be transformed into a new amphitheater that would host everything from top concerts to graduations.
By @justPEREZplay
Remember the stadium where the
Bridgeport Bluefish used to play? Well, it will be turning into a new 5,700 venue this summer! Yesterday,
Live Nation announced the former minor league baseball stadium will become the
Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater, opening May 15. Read more about it
Hartford HealthCare, which has held naming sponsorship rights at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford and the Toyota Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford since 2017, has added the soon-to-open, formerly named Harbor Yard Amphitheater to its sponsorships. Going forward the concert venue will named the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, the company announced Tuesday.
Hartford HealthCare (HHC) announced two major initiatives in Bridgeport this week: A new orthopedic institute at the city’s St. Vincent’s Medical Center and its branding on the new Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater.
The Hartford-based health system cut the ribbon on the Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute at St. Vincent’s this morning.
HHC bought St Vincent s in 2018 in a $244 million transaction. The 473-bed hospital, previously owned by Catholic operator Ascension, was HHC’s first major facility in Fairfield County and the second largest of its seven hospitals, after its flagship Hartford Hospital.
The new orthopedic center will bring together 50 surgeons from local practices, operating out of a 30,000-square-foot inpatient unit at the hospital dedicated to orthopedics and spine procedures. The unit features 35 private rooms, large bathrooms, a physical therapy gym with a car simulator and other amenities.