It was standing room only on opening night at an amphitheater that Arlington County once shut down without warning. Lubber Run Amphitheatre reopened thanks to a community group that jumped in to save the beleaguered stage. County officials declared in 2008 that the theater would have to be scrapped, but replacing it would cost more than $3 million, officials said. The theater’s stage was worn down; its lighting poles were falling over; and it didn’t meet the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But the Lubber Run Amphitheatre Foundation pushed the county to reconsider, and, after $160,000 in improvements, the theater is back in working condition. This summer the county added a new stage, a new lighting system and parking and bathrooms for the disabled.
Singer Mary Ann Redmond performed at the amphitheater’s reopening, attended by more than 300 people in triple-digit heat.
Foundation officer Chris Scheer attended. He said he thought the abruptness of the closing was what caught neighbors’ attention.
“There was no explanation. The county hadn’t sent any word to any of the associations in the area, or made an announcement in the media or anything like that, and that’s what got people’s attention,” he said.
The foundation petitioned county officials to reconsider their decision and to contribute $100,000 toward improvements.
“The county was slow to respond,” Scheer said. “People talk about ‘the Arlington way’ — whatever that means — but I think it means you’ve just got to keep pecking away.”
But county board members were amenable to the petition once they found out about it, Scheer said.
“It was really just more of an awareness thing,” he said.
The costs for repairs ended up going over the $100,000 mark, but the difference was paid with unused funds left over from the original study that pointed out the amphitheater’s problems.
The only work still to be done is the renovation of the backstage dressing rooms, said Hal Crawford, technical director for Arlington Cultural Affairs. The walls, gutted to root out a mold problem, now need new drywall and paint.
The amphitheater has shows scheduled every weekend through Sept. 3.
