Mahoney: Lakeview Amphitheater ready for concerts

GEDDES, N.Y. — Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney says the Lakeview Amphitheater, a new area performing arts center, is ready to host concerts.

“We have finished and are ready for the [Miranda Lambert] concert on Sept. 3,” said Mahoney.

She held the certificate of occupancy as she spoke with reporters on the Geddes hillside above the amphitheater that overlooks Onondaga Lake.

Gilbane Building Co., the prime contractor on the project, “turned this over to the county” on Monday night, she added.

Mahoney has high hopes for the economic and fiscal impact of the Lakeview Amphitheater.

“It’s going to be that economic engine that’ll spin off the sales-tax revenue from the thousands of people that’ll come out here for shows and we’ll use that money to keep our county operation going,” she added.

Providence, Rhode Island–based Gilbane operates an office in Syracuse, William Gilbane III, the firm’s senior vice president, said while speaking to the media.

Salina–based C&S Companies was involved in the initial design phase on the project, Mahoney said in response to a BJNN inquiry.

C&S served as the project and construction manager on the $50 million amphitheater project, according to a news release on the firm’s website.

It was the first design-build project that Onondaga County had undertaken.

“I think there were a lot of people that were surprised by the aggressive timeline that we put together,” said Mahoney. “With the design-build strategy, we can turn it over sooner than [at] 100 percent [completion level] and it was turned over to Gilbane at that point.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sept. 15 of last year signed legislation granting the design-build authority that Onondaga County had requested, according to a news release from Cuomo’s office.

The authority allowed Onondaga County to have the same company design and build the amphitheater to meet “an aggressive construction schedule,” according to Cuomo’s news release.

The project is part of the Onondaga Lake Revitalization program, for which Cuomo and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney announced details at the Solvay-Geddes Community Youth Center on Jan. 29, 2014.

The Lakeview Amphitheater is also part of a new facility in the Onondaga County park system that also includes a bike trail, Mahoney said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

PHOTO CAPTION:  The Lakeview Amphitheater, a $50 million performing arts center on the western shore of Onondaga Lake, is ready to host the Miranda Lambert concert on Sept. 3. Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney on Tuesday told reporters that Gilbane Building Co., the primary contractor on the design-build project, turned the facility over to Onondaga County on Monday night. (Eric Reinhardt / BJNN)