LYNDHURST, Ohio — If grant money can be obtained, residents may have a new venue to enjoy the city’s summer concert offerings.
On Monday (June 2) City Council approved legislation that has the city reaching out to Cuyahoga County for grant money that would help fund construction of an amphitheater for Lyndhurst Park, 1341 Parkview Drive, behind city hall.
“We’ve had interest in an amphitheater for our park,” said Mayor Patrick Ward. “We have our concerts in the park there (at Lyndhurst Park), and there are other things that we could be doing if we had maybe more of a stage.”
Currently, music performances are now staged at the park’s gazebo, which Ward said, “has a small face on the world.”
“An amphitheater would give us a better presentation to our residents,” he said. “It would give better sound quality for their enjoyment, and I think it would help us grow that (concert) program.”
The plan would call for the amphitheater to be located just north of the gazebo, along the park’s eastern line.
“It wouldn’t be overly large, probably about 35 feet wide,” Ward said of the stage and its covering. “The shell would allow sound to be presented more richly into the park. It wouldn’t get lost.”
It is the second time the city has sought a grant for an amphitheater. Last year, Lyndhurst applied to the state of Ohio for money, but Ward said that, during the application process, the city was asked what was its most important project.
“We had to prioritize,” Ward said, meaning that the amphitheater took a back seat to funding requests for other things that would immediately enhance other ongoing programs within Lyndhurst.
“Even if we’re not successful (in gaining a county grant), it’s good to go through the exercise, hone our skills, hone our application. Hopefully, we will be successful.”
The city is seeking approximately $150,000 from the county. If successful in getting a grant, the city would also have to contribute money to the project to bring it to completion.
Ward said that, over the past year, the city has refined the project and its potential cost in hopes of bettering its chances to receive grant money.
The chosen spot for the amphitheater, Ward said, has a slightly higher elevation than the rest of the park. Ward said that the slope isn’t “as dramatic” as that of The Grove amphitheater in Mayfield Village, where audience members sit on a sloped hill and look down towards the stage.
For Lyndhurst’s amphitheater, Ward quipped, “We think ‘great sound’ and ‘less drama.’”
The Lyndhurst amphitheater would include a cement area at the front of the stage for dancing.
Ward envisions performances that make up the city’s annual summer concert series and other special events occurring at the amphitheater. Ward is known to book the musical acts that appear at Lyndhurst Park during the summer and at its annual September Home Day event.
He mentioned that residents should be aware that the 2025 summer concert series is about to get under way. The schedule of performers for the 7 p.m. shows looks like this:
— June 18, Funkology
— July 4, at 7:30 p.m., Hillcrest Concert Band
— July 16, Red Light Roxy
— Aug. 20, Abbey Rodeo
Honoring Rose Scotland
During the city’s 22nd Annual Young at Heart Dance held Sunday (June 1) at the Lyndhurst Community Center, Ward proclaimed that the summer of 2025 will be the “Summer of Rose Scotland.”
Scotland, a Lyndhurst resident since 1949, will turn 100 years of age on Aug. 25.
“She and her (late husband) got married in 1946, lived in South Euclid, and built the (Lyndhurst) house she still lives in in 1949,” Ward said.
Mayor Patrick Ward presented to longtime resident Rose Scotland a city proclamation during Sunday’s Young at Heart Dance.Kelly Miller/City of Lyndhurst
Scotland, a water aerobics instructor at the Hillcrest YMCA, was featured in Cleveland Magazine as one of the Most Interesting people of 2021. The story notes how, in 1943, during World War II, Scotland took a job riveting pieces of metal used in making F-15 fighter planes.
“She’s just remarkable,” Ward said. “She’s a charming, charming little lady who absolutely loves living in Lyndhurst.
“We are angling for her to be the grand marshal of our (Home Day) parade.”
The dance hosted more than 65 people.
“It just was a very, very nice day,” Ward said of the event. “And people were just appreciative and very complimentary.”
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